Emergency following the 1997 earthquake in the Umbria region (Italy): from problem to opportunity of development

The earthquakes which affected the Apennine region of Marche and Umbria in 1997 caused enormous problems for the treatment of construction materials from demolition sites, but previous experience meant that our Region was not unprepared in facing this problem. The intensity of the main earthquake that took place on September 26, 1997, on the Mercalli Scale was of nineth grade and, on the Ritcher Magnitude Scale, was 5.8. The greatest damage was recorded in the municipalities of Assisi, Foligno, Gualdo Tadino, Nocera Umbra, Preci, Sellano, and Valtopina. This is where more than the eighty percent of the families forced to abandon their home resided. The paper describes the initiatives taken in response to the problems caused by the earthquakes, and now the critical phase has passed the experience in dealing with the problem can still be of advantage to the whole community for the efficient re-use of materials and for a reduction in quarrying activities. For quite a few years, universities and institutes of research have been committed to characterize and estimate the quality of the recycled materials. In this regard, there is a great deal of research to identify the best use in civil engineering of the recycled material by itself or combined. This is the objective of the Laboratory of Roads, Railroads, and Airports of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the University of Perugia. To reach this objective, they use newly acquired machinery that allows simulation of the phases of construction and use of the roads.