The use of industrial waste in civil engineering applications constitutes a potential innovative effort to reduce environmental degradation and enable a sustainable use of natural resources. This paper reports a comprehensive laboratory study that was performed to evaluate the rubber granulates from End-of-Life Tyres (ELTs) as a lightweight backfill material in retaining walls. Various tests have been performed to provide specific information on the mechanical and physical properties of a detailed range of particle sizes smaller than 12 mm, with six different particle size distributions (S1: 0.0–0.8 mm/S2: 0.6–2.0 mm/S3: 2.0–4.0 mm/S4: 2.0–7.0 mm/S5: 90% 2.0–7.0 mm + 10% 0.6–2.0 mm/S6: 50% 2.0–7.0 mm + 50% 0.6–2.0 mm). The density and unit weight, compaction energy, compressibility, shear strength, and deformability have been evaluated to determine their performance. As a main conclusion, the research confirms that rubber granulates from ELTs possess great potential as backfill material behind retaining walls. The characteristic values of the geotechnical parameters have been estimated according to Eurocode 7. The friction angle results range from 18.27 to 23.21 degrees, and the cohesion results are wide-ranging, with values from 9.35 to 17.83 kPa. For this reason, two cantilever L-shaped retaining walls, selected as representative case studies, have been tested with these sample properties. The results of the geotechnical verifications are presented together with a comparison of the safety factors in accordance with the Spanish standard design (CTE-DB-SE-C) and the European (EC7-1) regulations. The calculations indicate that the overdesign factors (ODF) achieved in the verifications using the material properties of the S4, S5, and S6 combination improve the calculation results obtained if a conventional filler material such as sand is considered.

Significant international forums and programmes, particularly the 2016 United Nations Conference Habitat III and the Horizon Europe, emphasise the need to address heritage management planning in cities from a comprehensive and inclusive perspective in balance with environmental issues. Accordingly, this research develops cross-cutting, alternative, and sustainable strategies for the design of a management process for municipal heritage assets in historical cities, which have been implemented in the city of Seville (the Management Plan for Heritage Municipal Buildings of Seville). This plan, finally approved in 2022, involves 130 symbolic buildings of which one third are either under-utilised or abandoned. The research focuses on the design of the developed methodology and presents the resulting 9 management programmes with 30 action lines created for the organisation of these heritage sites into a comprehensive system. Seville’s municipal built heritage plan implies the involvement of academics and researchers from a wide range of disciplines, public agents, and local actors who can guarantee a sustainable process and integrated governance in the future. In conclusion, the research shows an innovative design process for cultural heritage management based on the premise that such buildings are resources for contemporary local development and for a better quality of life.

The rise of Internet of Things (IoT) systems and the evolution of Low-Power Wide-Area Networks have directly contributed to the emergence of a new generation of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems based on the Non-Destructive Test approach. Consequently, this article presents the design and development of a synchronous, low-cost, real-time, wireless, and low-power consumption SHM system for pre-existing buildings and infrastructures, which has been validated on a structure built in the High Middle Ages forming part of the historical heritage of the city of Seville (Spain). The system proposes a modular and scalable design with the capacity for synchronous monitoring of the accelerations of a structure thanks to the deployment of several reduced-size nodes that acquire and transmit the accelerations of the structures through a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) NB-IoT connection. This aspect and Firmware Over The Air (FOTA) capability enables the permanent deployment of sensor nodes, thereby not only obviating the use of costly traditional devices but also granting access to the structures to be monitored for each test and maintenance task and hence supporting the tasks related to the preventive conservation of heritage. The experimental tests carried out demonstrate the low impact of GPS time synchronization and FOTA on the autonomy of the system. The precision of the system is also validated by comparing the results with a precision system in a real field test. Furthermore, continuous monitoring is guaranteed through the graphical interface developed as a composition of microservices, which enables management of the deployed networks.