All the traces of historic heritage are a fundamental part of our environment and reward us in the form of cultural enrichment, with the ability to have a positive effect both on our lifestyle and economy. Therefore, the preservation of ancient monuments, historic towns and sites has increasingly drawn the attention of public opinion, governmental agencies as well as consultants and contractors. This interest must be however carefully controlled and directed, since the conservation of monuments and historic sites is one of the most challenging problems of our age. Careless attempts at preservation can be detrimental not only to their iconic value (formal integrity), but even to their structural characteristics and the materials they are built with (material integrity).

Geotechnical Engineering for the Preservation of Monuments and Historic Sites collects one opening address, four special lectures and 82 contributions from all over the world, giving a unique sample of the geotechnical problems to be tackled, the solutions currently being proposed, and the strategies being carried out to preserve the overall integrity of monuments and historic sites. It is clearly apparent that differences exist around the world not only in terms of the characteristics of the monuments or sites to be preserved, but also in the approaches adopted to achieve this aim. Hence, no unique solution is available to the geotechnical engineer dealing with the delicate structures and sites that represent our cultural heritage, and knowledge of previous experiences may be a unique guide in any technical decision-making process.