leaning tower pizza leaning tower of pisa

These efforts decreased the tower's lean by 10%, leaving it at a 5-degree slant. After more brainstorming, the committee attempted 'underexcavation' - that is, using long tubes and drills to noninvasively remove the ground beneath the north side of the tower's foundation.Īs soil was removed, the structure slowly started to rotate northward.

But this didn't stop the rate of tilt, even after they added an extra 300 tons (272 metric tons) to the north side, along with ground anchors, according to Fiorentino. The committee first affixed 600 tons (544 metric tons) of lead to the base of the tower's north side in 1993, hoping to compensate for the sinking southern side. 'There is a great debate around how much we can change about the monument. 'It's one of the symbols of Italy,' Fiorentino told Live Science. In 1990, it appointed a committee of experts to mitigate the lean - but without eliminating it and its tourist attraction. As the tower's slant gradually grew to 5.5 degrees, the Italian government took action to protect the landmark, according to Fiorentino.

Leaning tower pizza leaning tower of pisa