[Science Report]:Leaning Tower of Pisa Repaired


This is the VOA SpecialEnglish SCIENCE REPORT.

Engineers are celebrating the completion of repairs to theLeaning Tower of Pisa. Italian officials closed the Leaning Towerfor safety reasons eleven years ago. Experts now say the repairswill make the building safe for at least a few more centuries.

The Leaning Tower is famous around the world. Many visitors toItaly travel to the city of Pisa to see the unusual-lookingstructure. The round tower is more than eight-hundred years old.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is easy to recognize. The white stonebuilding is sinking, or leaning, on one side. The tower is aboutfifty-five meters high. Its south side is much lower than its northside.

The Leaning Tower is leaning because it was built on soft sandysoil. The soil cannot support its weight. The tower weighs aboutfourteen-thousand-five-hundred metric tons. The ground under thetower first started to sink soon after workers began building thestructure in the year Eleven-Seventy-Three.

In recent years, the Leaning Tower has continued to sink. Expertsexpressed concern that the tower might fall suddenly. InNineteen-Eighty-Nine, a similar tower in the Italian city of Paviafell. Four people were killed. The following year, Italian officialsclosed the Leaning Tower of Pisa. People were no longer permitted towalk up to the top.

An international team of building experts began a project to makesure the Leaning Tower does not fall down. The project cost abouttwenty-five-million dollars.

First, engineers placed eight-hundred-seventy metric tons of leadweights on the north side of the tower. This helped stop additionalmovement. Also, workers tied strong steel cables around thestructure. These wires were connected to large weights in the area.

Next, engineers slowly removed tons of soil from under the tower.They used special drills to remove small amounts of soil overseveral months. Slowly the tower moved back to where it stoodhundreds of years ago. It still leans, but not as much as before therepairs.

Last month, the area around the Leaning Tower opened to thepublic. However, visitors will have to wait until November beforethey are permitted to climb to the top. Italian officials say onlyabout thirty visitors will be permitted to climb the tower at onetime.

This VOA Special English SCIENCE REPORT was written by GeorgeGrow.

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