Architectural heritage is usually built with masonry structures, which present problems under lateral in-plane loading conditions, such as wind pressure or earthquakes. In order to improve the shear behavior of masonry, the use of a fabric-reinforced cementitious matrix (FRCM) has become an interesting solution because of its synergy of mechanical properties and compatibility with masonry substrates. For a proper structural evaluation, the mechanical behavior of reinforced masonry and the FRCM itself needs to be characterized. Hence, a numerical model to evaluate the FRCM reinforcement requires some mechanical parameters that may be difficult to obtain. In this sense, the shear behavior of masonry can be evaluated by means of diagonal tension tests on small specimens (71 × 71 cm). In this work, a digital image correlation (DIC) monitoring system was used to control displacements and cracking patterns of masonry specimens under shear stress (induced by diagonal tension with FRCM layers) applied to one or two sides. In addition, the mechanical behavior of FRCM coupons under uniaxial tensile tests was also registered with DIC. The displacement measurements obtained by DIC were validated with the measurements registered with LVDT. Unlike LVDT-based techniques, DIC monitoring allowed us to measure deformations in masonry during the full test, detecting crack initiation even before it was visible to the eye.

The purpose of this paper is to study the dynamic behavior of a pedestrian bridge in Alicante, Spain, which showed vertical and horizontal vibration problems. Moreover, the deck’s structural steel showed severe corrosion damage. Hence, two cases were analyzed: before retrofitting the structure using glass fiber-reinforced polymers (GFRPs) and after. While the GFRP was designed for aesthetic and durability purposes only—and not for structural retrofitting—it changed the mass and stiffness of the footbridge, affecting its dynamic characteristics. The natural frequencies, mode shapes, and modal damping factors of the bridge were calculated based on accelerations recorded at 11 points on the bridge under different conditions—i.e., ambient vibration and forced vibration produced by a fixed number of pedestrians walking on the bridge at a certain speed and frequency. A numerical model was also designed in order to compare the experimental and numerical results.