Post–Flood Recovery of Built Heritage: Modelling for Predicting Secondary Damage

Built heritage represents a non–renewable resource that remains fragile and highly vulnerable to climate change. Climate change goes hand–in–hand with extreme weather events, including droughts, floods, severe storms, and prolonged heatwaves.In July 2021, the Walloon region of Belgium experienced severe flooding, impacting over 10% of the heritage buildings in the Liège province. This paper evaluates the application of two predictive models, Sedlbauer’s isopleths and ECOS/RUNSALT, during the post–flood recovery phase in Wallonia. These models aim to mitigate secondary damages associated with salt weathering and mould growth. The findings underscore the models’ usefulness for site managers in prioritising intervention strategies, thus reducing the risk of further deterioration and ensuring a more targeted and efficient recovery process.