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Solving the 800-year mystery of Pisa's Leaning Tower
The Telegraph ^ | 28 Jul 2010 | Alastair Smart

Posted on 07/29/2010 3:50:42 AM PDT by Daffynition

Professor John Burland has spent the last two decades striving to save - and understand - the Leaning Tower of Pisa. After defying gravity, Italian bureaucracy and accusations of corruption, it seems he’s finally cracked the case.

[snip]

Via his data analysis, Burland unlocked the 800-year mystery as to why the tower leans south not north: namely, a fluctuating water-table on the upper layer of silt. By a quirk of local geography, Pisa’s water-table rose higher on the tower’s north side, often reaching within one foot in rainy season, and this gave the tower an annual ratchet southward.

Armed with this vital information, in 2003, Burland introduced a new drainage system beneath the piazza’s north side, one that lowered and stabilised the water-table, so there’s no kick in either direction. Problem solved.

[snip]

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Arts/Photography; Business/Economy; History; Science
KEYWORDS: godsgravesglyphs; leaningtowerofpisa; pisa; towerofpisa
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1 posted on 07/29/2010 3:50:44 AM PDT by Daffynition
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To: SunkenCiv
Phew! Posing for illusions can continue .........


2 posted on 07/29/2010 3:56:24 AM PDT by Daffynition (There is no other cheese.)
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To: Daffynition
I was in that tower over 30 years ago. I wonder if the tilt has changed during that time?

If the problem is solved, will there be any attempt to correct the tilt to the upright position the designer intended it to be centuries ago?

Or is that too risky?

3 posted on 07/29/2010 4:00:58 AM PDT by wmileo
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To: Daffynition

Well heck just bring in “evil Superman” to fix it again.


4 posted on 07/29/2010 4:01:04 AM PDT by pnh102 (Regarding liberalism, always attribute to malice what you think can be explained by stupidity. - Me)
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To: wmileo

They’ve been working on ‘correcting’ the tilt for decades.

The tilt was noticed almost immediately during construction.

When they say Italians are stubborn, they aren’t just kidding.,

Instead of halting construction they just kept on keeping on with the tilting more and more serious with every section


5 posted on 07/29/2010 4:16:35 AM PDT by Carley (For those who fought for it, freedom has a flavor the protected will never know.)
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To: Daffynition

Was fortunate to climb to the top back in the 80’s.


6 posted on 07/29/2010 4:29:23 AM PDT by bushpilot1
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To: Daffynition

I don’t care what makes it tilt. I wanna know what keeps it from falling.


7 posted on 07/29/2010 4:31:44 AM PDT by Larry Lucido (A woman is like an artichoke; you have to do a bit of work to get to her heart ~Insp. Clouseau)
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To: Larry Lucido

Moleeds.


8 posted on 07/29/2010 4:55:52 AM PDT by Salamander (And I think I need some rest but sleeping don't come very easy in a straight white vest.)
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To: wmileo
I was in that tower over 30 years ago. I wonder if the tilt has changed during that time?

Read the article. It did indeed change to the point of nearly toppling over, and has since been restored to 4 meters off-center.

If the problem is solved, will there be any attempt to correct the tilt to the upright position the designer intended it to be centuries ago?

Again, read the article. Now that the reason for the tower's lean has been identified, it has been stabilized. They could straighten it anytime they want. But, it won't be straightened, because then it wouldn't be the Leaning Tower of Pisa any longer.

How many tourists would visit the Formerly Leaning Tower of Pisa?

9 posted on 07/29/2010 4:57:45 AM PDT by justlurking (The only remedy for a bad guy with a gun is a good WOMAN (Sgt. Kimberly Munley) with a gun)
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To: wmileo
Good morning wmileo ...sorry to have truncated the article so much, but it had that *eyes glazing over* content...and it was somewhat boring unless you are an engineer or geologist.

I think if you read the article you'll find the answers to your queries. I doubt if it will ever to totally righted. ;)

The street vendors would revolt!


10 posted on 07/29/2010 5:08:38 AM PDT by Daffynition (There is no other cheese.)
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To: pnh102

11 posted on 07/29/2010 5:10:14 AM PDT by Daffynition (There is no other cheese.)
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To: Larry Lucido

They enacted a law in Italy to forbid it from falling.


12 posted on 07/29/2010 5:11:42 AM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (~"This is what happens when you find a stranger in the Amber Lamps !"~~)
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To: bushpilot1
It must have been a incredible view. Looking at how narrow the staging is, I doubt if I would dare do it ...a bit vertigo-esque! Lucky you!


13 posted on 07/29/2010 5:15:15 AM PDT by Daffynition (There is no other cheese.)
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To: Larry Lucido
The tourists?


14 posted on 07/29/2010 5:22:23 AM PDT by Daffynition (There is no other cheese.)
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To: Daffynition

Thanks for that pic - that is the funniest thing I’ve seen/read all week!


15 posted on 07/29/2010 5:24:57 AM PDT by ThunderSleeps (obama out now! I'll keep my money, my guns, and my freedom - you can keep the change.)
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To: Daffynition
FTA:

‘There were 14 egos at work and little common ground between people from such different disciplines,’ says Burland. ‘As opposed to rational, British-style discussion, meetings were emotional, with polemical speeches in Italian for hours on end. Often my translators struggled to keep up and I hadn’t a clue what was going on.’

Broadly speaking, the structural engineers disagreed with the geotechnical engineers over whether the key lay in the tower itself or in the earth beneath it, while both were at odds with the art historians, who feared intervention of any kind and demanded the belfry’s ‘character and integrity’ be observed. A permanent prop, for instance, was a definite no-no.

‘It was a constant impasse. I often doubted we’d ever reach a resolution,’ recalls Burland, one of only two non-Italians on the committee. The other, an American geotechnical engineer, died of a heart attack in 1996, partly brought on by the stresses of working in Pisa.

Daffy, I must disagree that this article has *eyes glazing over* content. It is both informative and funny. Everyone should read the whole article. Members of this secret committee should receive Italy's highest honor for working diligently for more than 10 years to solve this problem. Read the article.

16 posted on 07/29/2010 5:32:51 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic (Southeast Wisconsin)
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To: afraidfortherepublic; cardinal4

Certainly the Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of Italy’s major attractions. Too bad. The cathedral and the baptistry are two of the most impressive structures of their type in Europe, but they’re overshadowed by the architectural anomoly next door.


17 posted on 07/29/2010 5:39:33 AM PDT by Ax
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To: afraidfortherepublic

Oh, I agree ...but it isn’t exactly *6th* grade reading level either...and in addition has that inimitable Brit wit.


18 posted on 07/29/2010 5:39:37 AM PDT by Daffynition (There is no other cheese.)
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To: dighton

Just get *someone* to help prop it up.

19 posted on 07/29/2010 6:27:11 AM PDT by MozarkDawg
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To: Daffynition
What with all the mimes ? :>
20 posted on 07/29/2010 10:04:56 AM PDT by tophat9000 (.............................. BP + BO = BS ...........................Formula for a disaster...)
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