Skip to content

Ask an Academic

  • Home
  • Ask a Question
  • Contact Us
High rise building construction

Why Did The Tower Of Pisa Start To Lean

September 20, 2019 by AskanAcademic.com

Construction of the Tower of Pisa began in 1173, a time when little consideration was given to geotechnical engineering

Question

What went wrong with the leaning tower of Pisa, and how were these problems remedied?

Answer

Construction of the Tower of Pisa began in 1173, a time when little consideration was given to geotechnical engineering. As such, the tower was constructed with inadequate foundations, over a varying water table, on soil that would undergo large amounts of differential settlement. The construction was staggered over the course of 200 years due to various distractions, resulting in inactivity that benefited the structure, allowing time for the ground beneath the tower to settle between builds. Whenever construction recommenced, the tilt of the tower was more noticeable and successive floors were completed slightly taller on the sinking side, in an attempt to compensate for the tilt. This resulted in the tower’s distinctive curved shape on completion in 1360.

The tower continued to settle, and in the early 20th century was found to be sinking by 0.05 inches per year. A number of attempts were made throughout the 20th century to stabilise the tower, without significantly decreasing the tilt, which was an important aspect of this tourist attraction. In 1990 the tower was closed to the public and it was eventually decided that the best method for stabilising the tower would be to replace the soil under the higher side of the tower, allowing this to settle further down, thus decreasing the tilt to a safe, but still noticeable, angle.

References

Post navigation

Previous Post:

What are the four unities of co-ownership?

Next Post:

Model Management Subsystem

Search Q&As

Categories

  • Art Media and Literature (73)
  • Business and Management (256)
  • Computing and ICT (14)
  • Construction and Engineering (35)
  • Education (90)
  • Environmental Sciences (2)
  • Finance and Economics (91)
  • Health (64)
  • Languages (12)
  • Law (88)
  • Mathematics and Statistics (2)
  • Medical Sciences (19)
  • Politics and International Relations (83)
  • Research Methodology (1)
  • Science (49)
  • Social Sciences (101)

Archives

Who We Are

Askanacademic.com is owned and operated by All Answers Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales. Company Registration No: 4964706. VAT Registration No: 842417633. Data Controller No: Z1821391.

Registered office:
Venture House
Cross Street
Arnold
Nottingham
NG5 7PJ

Main Navigation

  • Home
  • Ask a Question
  • Contact Us

Legals

  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Policy

Popular Categories

  • Business and Management
  • Law
  • Finance and Economics
  • Health
An an Academic Logo
© 2022 Ask an Academic | WordPress Theme by Superb Themes
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Reject
Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT