Tourists and enthusiasts can visit the leaning tower of Pisa without fear for at least another 300 years, according to an Italian engineer.
, one of the architectural wonders of the world, is off the vertical by about 4 meters (13.12 feet). But before it leans further and gets destroyed, the Italy government organized an engineering project in 1990 to fix this problem and it was completed in 2001.
The project corrected the lean by about 40 centimeters (1.31 feet) from its original position in 1990.
Professor Michele Jamiolkowski, the engineer and geologist involved in this project, told
Corriere della Sera, Italian newspaper, that the building is stabilized now and out of danger for at least 300 more years.
The Pisa tower was closed for nearly 12 years from 1990 when it kept leaning about a millimeter a year due to unstable ground.
The engineers used trapezoidal stones to bring back the structure, but the attempts failed. The structure was then anchored to cables and cement was injected to relieve the pressure on the ground. The position of the tower is currently what it was in the year 1700.
The tower was reopened after the project was completed.
The 14,000-tonne bell tower, built by astronomer Galileo, is an internationally recognized architectural symbol of Italy along with Rome's Coliseum.
The tower was built in several stages between 1174 and 1370. Galileo primarily wanted to use the tower for gravity experiments.
Report: Pisa's leaning tower safe for 300 more years
Email
Print
Share
del.icio.us
facebook
newsvine
reddit
stumbleupon
technorati