Leaning Tower of Pisa Secure For 300 More Years

Ponca City, We Love You writes "The tower of Pisa began to lean five years after its construction began, in 1178, and by 1990 it had tilted more than four meters off its true vertical. Conservationists estimated that the entire 14,500-ton structure would collapse 'some time between 2030 and 2040.' Now the Leaning Tower of Pisa has been stabilized and declared safe for at least another three centuries. The stabilization, which cost $30M, was accomplished by anchoring it to cables and lead counterweights, while 70 tons of soil were removed from the side away from the lean, and cement was injected into the ground to relieve the pressure. The tilt has now returned to where it was in the early 19th century. Nicholas Shrady, author of Tilt: A Skewed History of the Tower of Pisa, says that the tower was destined to lean from the outset because it was built on 'what is essentially a former bog.' Shrady adds that the tower previously came close to collapsing in 1838, 1934, and 1995. (The commission convened in 1990 to study the tower's stability was the 17th such.) Although Galileo Galilei is said to have dropped cannon balls from the tower in a gravity experiment, Shrady says the myth is the result of 'the overripe imagination of Galileo's secretary and first biographer, Vincenzo Viviani.'"

Re:Safe for 300 years

[MrMr]

It has beeing leaning for almost a 1000 years already. Giving it another 30% extra after a major update isn't that spectacular.

Re:OB Monty Python

[paintswithcolour]

It's not completely regarded as a myth; there are a handful of Galileo scholars that think there may be some reality to it. It's all conjecture though, a single source of questionable reliability will forever make it impossible to distinguish myth from fact.

Re:OB Monty Python

[Anonymous Coward]

He is right actually.

Both the Bible, and the Macro Evolution Theory, have not been proven.

So... Neither can be considered a fact.

Very off topic... Moderator points.

[splutty]

I'm sorry, this is totally off topic, but to get an answer to this, posting it in the first thread is my best chance, probably.

I used to get 5 moderator points, then a while ago, I had 10, now I have 15... Does anyone have any clue what on earth is going on? Do they stack over time if unused?

And to stay slightly on-topic: I find it hilarious that they're fixing old engineering mistakes using modern engineering principles that are technically over 3000 years old ;)

Re:That's just wrong...

[Anonymous Coward]

Fascinating story here of the cumulative mistakes and poor decision-making that resulted in the alternating lean to the left - lean to the right that it has today. (Kind of like our government I guess ... ) Written from a project management perspective, much of it will sound familiar in today's world. http://www.maxwideman.com/guests/pisa/vision.htm [maxwideman.com]

Re:That's just wrong...

[Opportunist]

It's a landmark and even more importantly a tourist attraction. That's why it's valuable. And no, straightening would not have been an alternative, because the only thing that makes this thing at least somewhat interesting is its crookedness. It's like giving a freak show exhibit a correctional operation. Nobody would wanna see it anymore.

If you're looking for useless buildings, you needn't go to Italy. Every country has them. From cathedrals to some person's birthplace to other monuments. Though, are they so useless? They serve, as mentioned above, tourist attractions, as some sort of spiritual focus and if nothing else as a reminder that earlier generations existed and did something spectacular as well. By your logic, the Pyramids would make a pretty nifty quarry.