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Leaning Tower to straighten up

Experts say the 800-year old structure could otherwise collapse in the next 20 years.

In a complex eight-month engineering project, four steel "suspenders" will be attached to the tower to stop it toppling over.

And the plans involve removing soil from beneath the tower, coaxing it to slip into a fractionally more upright position.

Officials cautiously predicted on Saturday it could be reopened next year after almost a decade closed to the public.

But critics say the plan could destabilise the fragile structure even more. Such attitudes are also typical among the local population.

"Many people here see the tower as something miraculous and think it should be left alone," said Valeria Caldelli, a Pisa resident and journalist.

"They see it as having its own soul. They think that if you touch it, you offend it."

The engineer overseeing the work, Paolo Heiniger, says two sets of 50mm thick braces had been moved to the base of the 12th-century belltower.

The four steel cables are there to ensure it does not topple. The impromptu safety belt was devised by experts after the last bid to save the tower, actually made things worse.

In 1995, the medieval monument suddenly lurched 2.5mm in one night - about 10% of the lean that the commission had corrected since 1990.

Pisa's tower developed its distinctive lean in the spongy Tuscan subsoil during the 12th century.

It now slouches five metres, and has sunk about three metres into the ground.

Relevant Stories

Bid to save Leaning Tower of Pisa (11 Dec 98 | Europe)
Eastern promise for leaning tower (13 Aug 98 | Europe)
Leaning tower of Pisa to get braces (28 Dec 97 | Europe)

Internet Links

Leaning Tower of Pisa information
Scientific American - Leaning Tower of Pisa
Doctoral Thesis - the leaning tower

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