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Stabilising the leaning

tower of Pisa
J. B. Burland 7 M. Jamiolkowski 7 C. Viggiani

Abstract The 56-m high leaning tower of Pisa was


constructed in three phases between 1173 and 1370
on the alluvial sediments of the River Arno, central
west Italy. Although the tower deviated from the vertical at an early stage, the continuing tilt has led to
concern about its safety. Having reviewed the construction of the tower and the underlying geology,
the paper discusses the history of the tilting and describes the temporary remedial measures undertaken
and permanent stabilization proposed.
Rsum La Tour penche de Pise, de 56 m de hauteur, a t construite en trois phases de 1173 1370,
sur les alluvions de la rivire Arno, dans le CentreOuest de lItalie. Bien que la tour ait commenc
basculer trs tt, la poursuite de linclinaison dans le
temps a conduit se poser des problmes de scurit. Aprs avoir examin les mthodes de constuction
de la tour et prsent les terrains de fondation, larticle rappelle lhistoire du basculement de la tour, dcrit les mesures conservatoires provisoires et propose des mthodes pour sa stabilisation permanente.
Key words Pisa 7 Stabilisation 7 Alluvium 7
Foundations

Introduction
The town of Pisa is situated some 10 km from the Ligurian
Sea (Fig. 1), having developed around a port on the River
Arno. A naval base in Roman times, it was the birthplace
of Galileo Galilei (15641642) and became a powerful Tuscan city state with a flourishing commercial centre in the
Middle Ages. However, it is probably best known for its
leaning tower (Fig. 2). This white marble bell tower, begun in 1173, was the third and final structure of the cathedral complex and is some 56 m high. After three storeys
had been completed, uneven settlement of the building occurred. Construction work was suspended several times,
but the inclined tower was ultimately completed in the
14th century.
Following the collapse without warning of the civic tower
in Pavia in 1989 when four people were killed, the Italian
Minister of Public Works and Buildings appointed a Commission to advise on the stability of the Pisa tower. The
Commission, under the chairmanship of Professor Michele
Jamiolkowski, re-assessed all the data available including
that obtained by the well-known 1965 Polvani Commission
(Ministero 1971).
This paper describes the tower itself and the ground conditions on which it was built. The history of the tilting is
reviewed and the temporary remedial works undertaken to
date are described. Possible permanent stabilisation measures are discussed.

Construction of the tower


Received: 22 December 1997 7 Accepted: 22 January 1998
J. B. Burland (Y)
Department of Civil Engineering, Imperial College, London
SW7 2BU, UK. E-mail: j.burland6ic.ac.uk
M. Jamiolkowski
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Strutturale, Politecnico di Torino,
Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, I-10129 Turin, Italy.
E-mail: jam.geotecnico6galactica.it
C Viggiani
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Geotecnica, Universit degli Studi
di Napoli Federico II, Via Claudio 21, I-80125 Naples, Italy.
E-mail: viggiani6unina.it

As seen in Fig. 3, the tower is situated on the east side of


the cathedral in the Piazza dei Miracoli. To the west of the
cathedral is the Baptistry; both these structures being older
than the tower itself. It is of note that the Baptistry is larger
in circumference than the 19.6-m diameter tower and has
not suffered differential settlement in the same way for
reasons which are explained below.
The tower is constructed as a hollow cylinder (Fig. 4). The
outer and inner walls are faced with marble, the cavity between being filled with a typical rubble and mortar mix.
Approximately 5 years after building began, work was suspended during construction of the fourth storey. No reason
for this is recorded in the literature but it is clear that dif-

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91

J. B. Burland et al.

Fig. 1
Location of Pisa, Italy, some 10 km from
the Ligurian Sea

ferential settlement was already taking place. Work recommenced in about 1272 and building continued to the
seventh floor when there was a further cessation in 1278.
Various reasons for the cessation have been suggested: it
may have been related to the military action taking place
around that time or the tower may have reached its original planned height. The possible effects of earthquakes in
the area have not been documented in detail but it is of
note that in 1279 there was a large earthquake centred in
the Camerino/Nocera Umbra area, some 160 km from Pisa;
in 1322 an earthquake of 4.2 Ms was recorded in Pisa while
between 1325 and 1345, three more severe earthquakes ocFig. 3
The Piazza dei Miracoli showing the cathedral, Baptistry and
leaning tower

Fig. 2
View of the leaning tower of Pisa

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Fig. 4
Cross section through the tower

Stabilising the leaning tower of Pisa

Fig. 5
Geological map of the Pisa area, taken
from the 1 : 250,000 Carta Stutturale
DellAppennino Settentrionale

curred in the vicinity of Florence. When work on the bell


chamber of the Pisa tower began again in 1360, it was necessary to construct six steps on the south side of the tower
compared with four on the north side between the seventh
cornice and the floor of the bell chamber, indicating that
the tower was leaning significantly to the south at that
stage. The building was completed in about 1370, almost
200 years after it was begun.

Ground conditions

er clay has been divided into four units. Between the


lower clay and upper clay which is also divided into
four units, there is a 2 m thick layer of intermediate sand
and a 4 m layer of stiffer clay (the intermediate clay).
The upper clay, known as the Pancone Clay, is a sensitive
deposit and consequently loses strength when disturbed.
These deposits are typically marine, having formed at a
time of rapid eustatic rise.
During the last 10 000 years or so, the rate of eustatic rise
has decreased and the sediments have become increasingly
estuarine in character. Typically, the fossils in Horizon A
include both marine (Cardium edule) and estuarine (Ammonia beccarii) species while some horizons contain fresh
water species and evidence of leaves and branches of trees
(Ministero 1971).
These more recent sediments, up to 10-m thick, comprise
mainly sandy and clayey silts overlying a 2-m-thick medium-dense upper sand layer. Typical of estuarine conditions, the sediments differ considerably over short horizontal distances, related to the positions of the main and
subsidiary meandering channels in the accreting estuarine
system. Visual descriptions refer to the laminated nature of

As seen in Fig. 5, the solid geology outcropping in the


upland areas around Pisa consists of Paleozoic to Tertiary
rocks. The strata have been extensively deformed during
periods of tectonic activity. The main structure has a
NNW-SSE direction with faults forming the western side of
the bedrock mass only 5 km east of Pisa. By extrapolation,
it would be anticipated that a fault with a similar trend
would pass through the bedrock beneath the town of Pisa,
concealed by the overlying alluvium. The most recent deposits, shown as the Quaternary Continental on the
1 : 250 000 scale geological map, are mixed marine and
freshwater deposits formed mainly in an estuarine environment.
The valley of the Arno River extends from its source in the
Appennine Tosco-Emiliano mountain range (Fig. 1)
through the mountainous area to Florence. During the last
glacial period, between some 23 000 and 15 000 yrs BP,
world sea levels dropped by at least 100 m and to the west
of Florence, the bedrock valley created by the river during
this and previous glacial periods is now infilled with alluvial materials. The town of Pisa is constructed on these alluvial sediments at a level of only some 34 m above mean
sea level. Boreholes in the area of the Piazza dei Miracoli
indicate this infill extends to a depth of at least 300 m.
The initial infill would undoubtedly have been typical marine sands deposited during the Flandrian Transgression.
Above these dense sands (Horizon C) which were probably
partially re-deposited by aeolian action, is a 13-m-thick
Fig. 6
dominantly clay band (Fig. 6). As seen in Table 1, the low- Soil profile beneath the tower

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J. B. Burland et al.

Table 1
Soil profile beneath the Tower (AGI 1991)
Made Ground

Topsoil and made ground


Horizon A: to a depth of 10 m

Sandy/clayey silts

A1

Loose to very loose yellow sandy silty to


clayey silt with no discernible lithological
layering

Upper sand

A2

Uniform grey sand with interbedded clay


layers and broken shells
Horizon B: to a depth of 40 m

Upper clay

B14

Medium to highly plastic grey clay with


fossils overlying a dark grey organic clay
(Panconce Clay). No evidence of laminations.

Intermediate clay

B5

Blue grey to yellow silty clay with calcareous


nodules

Intermediate sands

B6

Grey sometimes yellow sand and silty sand

Lower clay

B7

Medium to highly plastic clay with fossils


and thin sand horizons in the upper part
Grey clay with frequent thin sand lenses
Blue grey silty clay with yellow zones,
calcareous nodules and some dark organic
clay
Grey clay with yellow zones containing fossils
notably in the lower part

B8
B9
B10

the sediments and to the presence of inclined layers, characteristic of sediments formed in such conditions. Indeed,
it is reported that difficulty was experienced in correlating
the geology in some boreholes only 2 m apart. Previous investigations have noted the difference in oxidation state
within the materials. This may be related to the difference
between the normally laminated materials which would
have been exposed at low water and hence oxidised, compared with the creek infills which will not have the same
lithologies, sedimentary structures and/or oxidation state.
As seen from some cone tests for this upper estuarine layer
(Fig. 7) and examination of samples, the material to the
south of the tower appears to be finer-grained than that to
the north, while the sand layer is locally much thinner. In
contrast to the upper estuarine sediments (Horizon A), the
lower marine sediments (Horizon B) are more uniform in
nature, although evidence of estuarine characteristics are
recorded. The results of numerous laboratory tests on high
quality samples extracted from the sub-soil are given by
Calabresi, Rampello and Callisto (1993).
The natural ground water level is 12 m below the ground
surface but in the past, water extraction from the lower
sand has resulted in downward seepage from the upper
layers. As a consequence, between the upper estuarine deposits and the lower sand there is a vertical pore pressure
distribution which is slightly below hydrostatic.
Borings undertaken around the tower and beneath the
structure itself indicate a hollow at the boundary between
the upper estuarine deposits and the upper clay (Fig. 6).
This hollow was caused by the localised loading imposed
by the 14 500 ton tower of Pisa.
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Fig. 7
Comparison of cone resistance profiles to the north and south of
the tower

Tilting of the tower


Burland and Viggiani (1994) describe the deduced history
of inclination of the tower based on careful measurements
of the relative inclinations of the masonry courses. This
work was undertaken to provide a means of calibrating
and verifying a computer model of the tower and underlying ground. From the period of initial construction, when
approximately 9000 tons of the total 14500 ton structure
was built, the tower developed a tilt to the north such that
when work was re-commenced in 1272 (after a break of
100 years), it was already inclined at an angle of 0.27
(Fig. 8). By 1278 when the seventh cornice was reached,
however, it was leaning to the south at an angle of 0.67, the
total load being some 13600 tons. During the following 90year break in construction, the structure continued to tilt
such that by 1360 it had increased to some 1.67. As noted
above, by the time the bell chamber was completed there
had been a further dramatic increase.
By 1817, the tilt was approximately 4.87. This was exacerbated in 1838 (Fig. 9) when the architect Alessandro Della
Gherardesca dug a walkway around the foundations,

Stabilising the leaning tower of Pisa

Fig. 8
Deduced history of inclination the tower during and subsequent
to construction

known as the catino. The purpose of this was to expose the


column plinths and foundation steps. Unfortunately, as the
excavation extended below the ground water level, water
entered the excavation such that the 4.87 southerly inclination of the tower was increased by some 0.57.
It can be seen from Fig. 8 that the inclination of the tower
increased rapidly once it rose above the sixth level. Figure
9 shows the relationship between time and inclination produced by the calibrated computer model (Burland and
Potts 1994). Numerous theoretical studies, including a sophisticated finite element analysis by Burland and Potts
(1994), have shown that the rapid increase in inclination
towards the end of construction was due to a phenomenon
known as leaning instability (e.g. Hambly 1985). Leaning
instability of a tall, narrow structure occurs at a critical
height when the overturning moment generated by a small
increase in inclination is equal to, or larger than, the corresponding resisting moment generated by the foundations.
Leaning instability is not due to lack of strength of the
ground but to insufficient stiffness. It is evident that the
combination of the very soft ground and the geometry has
resulted in the bell tower at Pisa reaching its critical height.

Children building brick towers on a soft carpet will be familiar with this phenomenon. Because the plan dimensions
of the Baptistry and Cathedral are so much larger, these
structures are well below their critical heights and in no
danger of leaning instability.
Since 1911, theodolite measurements have been made on a
regular basis to establish the extent of any movement taking place. In 1928 four levelling stations were installed
around the tower at plinth level, referenced to a bench
mark established on the Baptistry. Unfortunately no readings were taken between 1929 and 1965. However, in 1934 a
plumb line (pendulum) was suspended from the sixth floor
and in the same year, a 4.5 m long spirit level was embedded into the masonry to allow measurements of both
north-south and east-west movement to be taken. Figure
10 shows the change in inclination of the tower since 1930
relative to the zero readings begun in 1911. It can be seen
that the inclination is increasing with time and in 1990 it
was about 6 arc seconds per year (i.e. about 1.5 mm displacement of the top of the tower).
The tower has been shown to be very sensitive to ground
disturbance and changes in ground water conditions. In
1934, 361 holes were drilled into the foundation masonry
and 80 tons of grout injected in order to strengthen the
stonework and decrease its permeability. At this time,
either as a result of ground disturbance or temporary lowering of the ground water, there was a sudden increase of
tilt of 31 arc seconds. In 1966, some additional drilling into
the foundations was undertaken, resulting in a further
6 arc seconds of tilt. In the late 1960s and early 1970s,
pumping from the alluvial sands caused subsidence and
the tower tilted further towards the south west by some
41 arc seconds. When the pumping was reduced, the rate
of movement returned to its former level. In 1985 further
drilling in the foundations was undertaken and the tower
responded with 10 arc seconds of inclination due to accidental penetration of the underlying ground.
Careful consideration of the changes of inclination of the
tower over a number of years shows that they have a distinct seasonal pattern. In September the inclination of the
tower begins to increase towards the south. This southerly
movement continues until about February and amounts to
approximately 6 arc seconds. From February through the
summer little north/south change in inclination occurs.
The acceleration of inclination in September coincides
with heavy rainstorms and rapid rises in ground water level in Horizon A. There is also a fairly rapid fall in ambient
temperature. The tower also shows an annual east-west cycle of inclination of about 3 arc seconds. In August/September the tower begins to move towards the east and in
about February it begins to move back towards the west. It
is clear that both rises in ground water levels in Horizon A
and reduction in temperature cause southwards inclinations of the tower but the mechanisms involved are not
fully understood.

Fig. 9
Relationship between time and inclination for the computer simulation of the history of the Pisa tower

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J. B. Burland et al.

Fig. 10
Change in inclination of the foundations
in the 20th century

Temporary stabilisation of the


tower
There are two main factors influencing the stability of the
tower: one related to the structure itself and the other to
the foundation sub-soil. The approach of the Commission
has been in two stages. The first has been to secure an increase in the margin of safety against both modes of failure
as quickly as possible by means of temporary measures.
The second is to develop permanent solutions. It can be
seen from Fig. 4 that there is a change in the wall dimensions at the level 1 cornice. On the southern side, this coincides with the position of the spiral staircase, such that at
this location the walls are at their thinnest. Clearly, as a
consequence of the overhanging nature of the tower, this
would be a natural point of stress concentration. The marble cladding shows signs of cracking and it is almost impossible to accurately assess the margin of safety against
failure of the masonry in this area. The consequences of
such failure would be catastrophic and hence in 1992 temporary lightly pre-stressed plastic covered steel tendons
were installed around the structure at the first cornice and
at intervals up the second storey. These were effective in
closing some of the cracks and are likely to significantly
reduce the risk of buckling failure of the marble cladding.
Despite the importance of this temporary strengthening, to
the untrained eye there is little if any visual impact.
Studies of the levels measured against the bench mark set
up in the Baptistry (Fig. 3) in 1911 suggested that with
time, not only was the southern side of the tower sinking
but the northern side was steadily rising. As a result of
these studies it was suggested that a load applied to the
foundation masonry on the north side could assist in counteracting the continuing tilt and possibly reduce the cur96

Bull Eng Geol Env (1998) 57 : 9199 7 Q Springer-Verlag

rent inclination. A computer analysis was carried out to


determine the effects of such loading (Burland and Potts
1994). It was found that a satisfactory result was only
forthcoming if the effects of ageing of the underlying Pancone Clay were incorporated in the computer model. With
this proviso, the analysis indicated that it was safe to place
a maximum of 1400 tons on the north side of the foundation masonry. Above this figure, the computer analysis
suggested there was a risk that the underlying Pancone
Clay would begin to yield, resulting in a southward rotation of the tower and excessive settlement of the foundations.
A design was prepared for a temporary pre-cast concrete
ring around the base of the tower at plinth level. Lead ingots were individually placed onto this platform at suitable
time intervals. During this process, the movement of the
tower was monitored using:
1. precision inclinometers and levellometers installed on
the wall of the ground floor room;
2. precise internal levelling of eight survey stations
mounted on the wall of this room;
3. precise external levelling of fifteen bench marks located
around the tower plinth and twenty-four along northsouth and east-west lines passing through the tower.
Construction of the concrete ring began on 3 May 1993 and
the first lead ingot was placed on 14 July (Fig. 11). The load
was applied on the pre-cast ring (Fig. 12) in four phases
with sufficient time between to confirm the response of the
tower to the imposed loading. The last ingot was placed on
the 20 January 1994.
Figure 13 (Burland et al. 1994) shows the change in inclination of the tower towards the north between 20 June 1993
and 7 March 1994, as recorded by the internal high precision levelling and inclinometers placed in the north-south
plane. One month after completion of the loading the tow-

Stabilising the leaning tower of Pisa

Fig. 13
Change in inclination of the tower during the application of the
counterweight

Permanent Stabilisation

Fig. 11
Placing the first lead ingot, 14 July 1993

er had moved northwards by 33 arc seconds while by the


end of July 1994 this had increased to 48 arc seconds. As
the construction of the concrete ring had created a change
of 4 arc seconds, the work itself had resulted in a total
change of 52 arc seconds. Comparing the levelling results
on 22 February 1994 with the situation prior to the placement of the ingots indicates an average settlement of approximately 2.5 mm relative to the surrounding ground.
The computer predictions of the change in inclination
were 80% of the measured values and the settlement predictions were in good agreement with the actual change
recorded.

Fig. 12
Applying load on the pre-cast ring

The Commission has decided to give priority to so-called


very soft solutions aimed at reducing the inclination of
the tower by up to 0.57 by induced subsidence beneath the
north side of the foundation. Such an approach allows the
simultaneous reduction of both the foundation instability
and the masonry over-stressing, with a minimum of work
on the tower fabric itself.
A number of methods of inducing subsidence have been
studied. The most promising one is the technique of soil
extraction postulated by Terracina (1962) for Pisa and
widely used in Mexico City. The technique will involve the
controlled removal of small volumes of soil from Horizon
A beneath the north side of the foundations (Fig. 14). The
resulting cavities gently close due to the overburden pressure, causing a small surface subsidence. By repeating this
process at various chosen locations, it is anticipated that
the inclination of the tower will gradually decrease.
Numerical modelling and physical modelling in the centrifuge was used to assess the risk that extraction of small
quantities of soil from beneath the northern foundations
would cause an increase in the inclination. The model
studies indicated that, provided extraction took place
north of a critical line, the response was always positive.
To ensure the success of this operation, a 7-m-diameter eccentrically loaded instrumented footing was constructed in
the Piazza north of the Baptistry, as shown in Fig. 15. It
should be emphasised that the trial footing was not intended to represent a scale model of the tower, but the objectives were to:
1. develop a suitable method of forming a cavity without
disturbing the surrounding ground during drilling;
2. study the time involved in cavity closure;
3. measure the changes in contact stress and pore water
pressures beneath the trial footing;
4. evaluate the effectiveness of the method in changing the
inclination of the trial footing;
5. explore methods of steering the trial footing by adjusting the drilling sequence;

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J. B. Burland et al.

dicated that the rotational response to soil extraction was


rapid, taking only a few hours.

Conclusions

Fig. 14
Proposed method of inducing subsidence by soil extraction

6. study the time effects between and after the operations.


The drilling was undertaken using a hollow-stemmed continuous flight auger inside a contra-rotating casing. When
the drill is withdrawn to form the cavity an instrumented
probe located in the hollow stem is left in place to monitor
the closure. A cavity formed in the Horizon A material has
been found to close smoothly and rapidly. The trial footing
was successfully rotated by about 0.257 and directional
control was maintained even though the ground conditions were somewhat non-uniform. This field trial also in-

Fig. 15
Trial showing the 7 m diameter eccentrically loaded footing with
the inclined drill undertaking selective soil extraction

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Bull Eng Geol Env (1998) 57 : 9199 7 Q Springer-Verlag

The 56-m-high Tower of Pisa, founded on alluvial sediments, appears to have deviated from the vertical at an
early stage during its construction which extended over a
total of some 200 years. Originally the inclination was
slightly to the north but during the second construction
phase, 12721278, it began to lean to the south such that
when the work was again interrupted, it was at an angle of
0.67 from the vertical. Since this time the southerly inclination has progressively increased, with relatively rapid dramatic tilting occuring at some periods. Following instrumentation in the 19th and 20th centuries, it was appreciated that the tower was not only sinking on the southern
and rising on the northern sides but it responded to fluctuations in ambient temperature and ground water levels
in Horizon A.
Two specific problems were identified: the distress in the
masonry of the structure itself and the sensitivity of the
foundation materials. As a consequence, prior to temporary ground works being undertaken, masonry strengthening
at the level of the first to second cornice was carried out to
ensure structural failure did not take place. The installation of temporary plastic coated steel tendons has provided
support to the cracked walls without creating any noticeable visual impact. Temporary remedial groundworks involving the placement of lead ingots on the northern side
of the tower were undertaken in 1993/94. This successfully
modified the southerly tilt but is aesthetically unacceptable
in the long term and its benefits are only temporary.
The permanent works now envisaged to reduce the tilt involve the drilling of a series of boreholes from which small
volumes of soil can be removed. The field trials undertaken
have shown that carefully positioned and drilled holes will
close rapidly, resulting in preferential settlement which, if
engineered at selected locations, should modify the general
tilt of the tower. The decision has been taken by the Commission to carry out preliminary soil extraction beneath
the north side of the tower itself. Before this work is undertaken, a safeguard structure is to be constructed in the
form of a horizontal cable stay attached to the tower at the
third storey. If the preliminary soil extraction proves successful, it is estimated that it will take about two years to
reduce the inclination of the tower by about 0.57, which
will be barely visible. Other additional stabilisation methods are under consideration.
Although continued monitoring will be undertaken in the
foreseeable future, it is hoped that these works will stabilise the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa, preserving this historic monument for many generations to come.

Stabilising the leaning tower of Pisa

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