It has become Italy’s other “leaning tower”. And now, after developing fears that Bologna’s Garisenda Tower might be on the verge of collapse, a plan has been devised to save the same apparatus that underpinned the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
The 158-foot (48-meter) Garisenda Tower was built in the 12th century, a time of prosperity in the northern city’s history, but two centuries later it had already begun to tilt. Today, its tilt is 4 degrees, slightly higher than the current 3. 9-degree tilt of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Late last year, streets around Garisenda were temporarily cordoned off while scientists monitored the route for signs of movement and cracks, concluding that it was at “high risk” of collapse.
Bologna Mayor Matteo Lepore announced on Wednesday that pylons and cables used in the past will be used to save the Leaning Tower of Pisa, as well as suitable metal scaffolding to prevent it from breaking.
“This will make the tower safer,” Lepore said at a news conference. He said this could allow the Asinelli Tower, a taller design next to Garisenda, to reopen to the public.
“In 2025 and 2026, consolidation and recovery measures will be carried out, which are not yet planned,” Lepori added.
The mayor said it would take “about six months” to retrofit the apparatus used in the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Garisenda, and that the total safeguarding operation is estimated at 19 million euros (about $20 million).
Once the two metal pylon structures used in Pisa have been erected and adapted to Garisende, the consolidation of the tower’s masonry will begin, adding the injection of a lime-based mortar aggregate compatible with that used in the original structure of the building, according to a press from the municipality.
Next, the cables connecting the pylons to the scaffolding attached to the tower would be tensioned, a procedure that would tighten degrees at the base of the tower.
Although less well-known than its counterpart in Pisa, the Garisenda Tower has long been a tourist attraction in Bologna. Its angle earned it a mention in Dante Aligher’s 14th-century poem, “The Divine Comedy. “Next door, the taller Torre degli Asinelli is also a tourist charm, with a more modest incline of 1. 3 degrees.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa, the centerpiece of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, reached a 4. 5-degree tilt in the early 1990s. Fears for its stability led to a foreign effort to save it from collapse, a work that took 8 years from 1993. .
Today, the bell tower is a solid monument, basically thanks to the metal pylons that will give a moment of life to the Garisenda Tower.
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