HISTORY

OF

TOWER

OF

PISA

The Tower of Pisa is one of the most fascinating and worldwide-known Italian monuments, admired for the exceptional elegance of its architectural structure, as well as for the extraordinary inclination. Founded in 1173 as steeple annexed to the Dome (started in 1064 by the architect Buscheto) and to the Baptistery (started in 1152 by the architect Deotisalvi) in "Piazza dei Miracoli" (Miracles Square), the "leaning tower" is commonly attributed to Bonanno. During some excavations carried out in the 19th century in the foundations of the steeple an urn was found having this name, which was thought to refer to the tower's builder. Scholars proposed to identify the Bonanno mentioned on the urn with the famous sculptor from Pisa who made the bronze gates of Pisa's Dome (where the gate of the faade, of 1179, went lost, while the other one, the so-called "Gate of S. Ranieri", is still preserved and can be seen outside the southern transept) and the gate of Monreale's Cathedral (dated 1185). However, after only 12 years (1185) there were the first signs of subsidence of the ground, which caused the tower's inclination and led to the interruption of works in the middle of the third floor. The construction was restarted only in 1275 by Giovanni di Simone and finished in the second half of the 14th century. Together with the Baptistery, the steeple tower is one of the first monuments in which the great novelty of the architectural language used in the neighbouring Dome is assimilated and proposed after some years. With its circular plan, it shows again the theme of small loggias with arches on columns, which will become one of the most successful themes in the Romanic period in Pisa. In the first order at the foot there is the theme of blank arches on semi-columns framing lozenges, that is taken from the Dome. On the top it ends with the cylindrical steeple cell with a lower diameter than the central part of the tower. Above the entrance door there was a sculpture of the Madonna with Child, ascribed to Andrea Guardi and now preserved at the Dome's Opera Museum. In the last years the Tower of Pisa has undergone some balancing interventions that have allowed to reduce its inclination: the subsidence of the ground also involves other monuments in Pisa, as for example the steeples of the churches of St. Michele degli Scalzi and St. Nicola.

Construction
Construction of the tower occurred in three stages across 177 years. Work on the first floor of the white marble campanile began on August 8, 1173, during a period of military success and prosperity. This first floor is a blind arcade articulated by engaged columns with classical Corinthian capitals. The tower began to sink after construction had progressed to the third floor in 1178. This was due to a mere three-metre foundation, set in weak, unstable subsoil, a design that was flawed from the beginning. Construction was subsequently halted for almost a century, because the Republic of Pisa was almost continually engaged in battles with Genoa, Lucca and Florence. This allowed time for the underlying soil to settle. Otherwise, the tower would almost certainly have toppled. In 1198 clocks were temporarily installed on the third floor of the unfinished construction. In 1272 construction resumed under Giovanni di Simone, architect of the Camposanto. In an effort to compensate for the tilt, the engineers built upper floors with one side taller than the other. Because of this, the tower is actually curved.[7] Construction was halted again in 1284, when the Pisans were defeated by the Genoans in the Battle of Meloria. The seventh floor was completed in 1319. It was built by Tommaso di Andrea Pisano, who succeeded in harmonizing the Gothic elements of the bell-chamber with the Romanesque style of the tower. There are seven bells, one for each note of the musical major scale. The largest one was installed in 1655. The bell-chamber was finally added in 1372.
After a phase (19902001) of structural strengthening,[8] the tower is currently undergoing gradual surface restoration, in order to repair visual damage, mostly corrosion and blackening. These are particularly pronounced due to the tower's age and its exposure to wind and rain.[9]

Timeline
On January 5, 1172, Donna Berta di Bernardo, a widow and resident of the house of dell'Opera di Santa Maria, bequeathed sixty soldi to the Opera Campanilis petrarum Sancte Marie. The sum was then used toward the purchase of a few stones which still form the base of the bell tower.[10] On August 9, 1173, the foundations of the Tower were laid. Nearly four centuries later Giorgio Vasari wrote : "Guglielmo, according to what is being said, in [this] year 1174 with Bonanno as sculptor, laid the foundations of the belltower of the cathedral in Pisa."

Another possible builder is Gerardo di Gerardo. His name appears as a witness to the above legacy of Berta di Bernardo as "Master Gerardo", and as a worker whose name was Gerardo. A more probable builder is Diotisalvi, because of the construction period and the structure's affinities with other buildings in Pisa. But he usually signed his works, and there is no signature by him in the belltower. Giovanni di Simone was heavily involved in the completion of the tower, under the direction of Giovanni Pisano, who at the time was master builder of the Opera di Santa Maria Maggiore. He could be the same Giovanni Pisano who completed the belfry tower. Giorgio Vasari indicates that Tommaso di Andrea Pisano was the designer of the belfry between 1360 and 1370. On December 27, 1233, the worker Benenato, son of Gerardo Bottici, oversaw the continuation of the construction of the belltower.[11] On February 23, 1260, Guido Speziale, son of Giovanni, a worker on the cathedral Santa Maria Maggiore, was elected to oversee the building of the Tower.[12] On April 12, 1264, the master builder Giovanni di Simone and 23 workers went to the mountains close to Pisa to cut marble. The cut stones were given to Rainaldo Speziale, worker of St. Francesco.[13]

Architect
There has been controversy about the real identity of the architect of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. For many years, the design was attributed to Guglielmo and Bonanno Pisano,[14] a well-known 12th-century resident artist of Pisa, famous for his bronze casting, particularly in the Pisa Duomo. Bonanno Pisano left Pisa in 1185 for Monreale, Sicily, only to come back and die in his home town. A piece of cast with his name was discovered at the foot of the tower in 1820, but this may be related to the bronze door in the faade of the cathedral that was destroyed in 1595. However recent studies[15] seem to indicate Diotisalvi as the original architect due to the time of construction and affinity with other Diotisalvi works, notably the bell tower of San Nicola and the Baptistery, both in Pisa. However, he usually signed his works and there is no signature by him in the bell tower which leads to further speculation.

History following construction

Galileo Galilei is said to have dropped two cannon balls of different masses from the tower to demonstrate that their speed of descent was independent of their mass. However, this is considered an apocryphal tale, its only source being Galileo's secretary.[16] During World War II, the Allies discovered that the Germans were using the tower as an observation post. A U.S. Army sergeant was briefly entrusted with the fate of the tower and his decision not to call in an artillery strike kept the tower from being destroyed.[17]

Lead counterweights

On February 27, 1964, the government of Italy requested aid in preventing the tower from toppling. It was, however, considered important to retain the current tilt, due to the vital role that this element played in promoting the tourism industry of Pisa.[18] A multinational task force of engineers, mathematicians and historians gathered on the Azores islands to discuss stabilization methods. It was found that the tilt was increasing in combination with the softer foundations on the lower side. Many methods were proposed to stabilize the tower, including the addition of 800 tonnes of lead counterweights to the raised end of the base.[19] In 1987 the tower was declared as part of the Piazza del Duomo UNESCO World Heritage Site along with the neighbouring cathedral, baptisteryand cemetery. On January 7, 1990, after over two decades of stabilization studies, the tower was closed to the public. The bells were removed to relieve some weight, and cables were cinched around the third level and anchored several hundred metres away. Apartments and houses in the path of the tower were vacated for safety. The final solution to prevent the collapse of the tower was to slightly straighten the tower to a safer angle, by removing 38 cubic metres (50 cu yd) of soil from underneath the raised end. The tower was straightened by 45 centimetres (18 inches), returning to its 1838 position. After a decade of corrective reconstruction and stabilization efforts, the tower was reopened to the public on December 15, 2001, and was declared stable for at least another 300 years.[19] In May 2008, after the removal of another 70 metric tons (77 short tons) of earth, engineers announced that the Tower had been stabilized such that it had stopped moving for the first time in its history. They stated it would be stable for at least 200 years.[20]

Alternative candidates
Two German churches have challenged the tower's status as the world's most lop-sided building: the 15th-century square Leaning Tower of Suurhusen and the 14th century bell tower in the town of Bad Frankenhausen.[21] Guinness World Records measured the Pisa and Suurhusen towers, finding the former's tilt to be 3.97 degrees.[22] In June 2010 Guinness World Records certified the Capital Gate building in Abu Dhabi, UAE as the "World's Furthest Leaning Man-made Tower". [23] The Capital Gate tower has an 18-degree slope, almost five times more than the Pisa Tower; however the Capital Gate tower has been deliberately engineered to slant.

Technical information

View looking up

An elevation image of the Leaning Tower of Pisa cut from a 2007 laser scan, with source image accurate down to 5mm

Elevation of Piazza del Duomo: about 2 metres (6 feet, DMS) Height from the ground floor: 55.863 metres (183 ft 3 in), 8 stories Height from the foundation floor: 58.36 metres (191 ft 47 in) Outer diameter of base: 15.484 metres (50 ft 9.6 in) Inner diameter of base: 7.368 metres (24 ft 2.1 in) [22] Angle of slant: 3.97 degrees or 3.9 m (12 ft 10 in) from the [24] vertical Weight: 14,700 metric tons (16,200 short tons) Thickness of walls at the base: 8 ft (2.4 m) Total number of bells: 7, tuned to musical scale, clockwise 1st bell: L'Assunta, cast in 1654 by Giovanni Pietro Orlandi, weight 3,620 kg (7,981 lb) 2nd bell: Il Crocifisso, cast in 1572 by Vincenzo Possenti, weight 2,462 kg (5,428 lb) 3rd bell: San Ranieri, cast in 1719-1721 by Giovanni Andrea Moreni, weight 1,448 kg (3,192 lb) 4th bell: La Terza (1st small one), cast in 1473, weight 300 kg (661 lb) 5th bell: La Pasquereccia or La Giustizia, cast in 1262 by Lotteringo, weight 1,014 kg (2,235 lb) 6th bell: Il Vespruccio (2nd small one), cast in the 14th century and again in 1501 by Nicola di Jacopo, weight 1,000 kg (2,205 lb) 7th bell: Dal Pozzo, cast in 1606 and again in 2004, weight 652 kg (1,437 lb)[25] [26] Number of steps to the top: 296

About the 5th bell: The name Pasquareccia comes from Easter, because it used to ring on Easter day. However, this bell is older than the bellchamber itself, and comes from the tower Vergata in Palazzo Pretorio in Pisa, where it was called La Giustizia (The Justice). The bell was tolled to announce executions of criminals and traitors, including Count Ugolino in

1289.[27] A new bell was installed in the belltower at the end of the 18th century to replace the broken Pasquareccia.

Gallery

Entrance door to the belltower

Inner staircase from sixth to seventh floor

Plaque in memory of Galileo Galilei's experiments

Inner staircase from seventh to eighth (the top) floor

View from the top External loggia

Assunta bell

Pasquareccia bell

The Tower of Pisa: What We Learned? History The tower is one of the ancient Seven Wonders of the World, even if it were straight up. According to history facts the design is somewhat similar to the design of the Tower of Babel. The bell tower has 7 bells, which are tuned to a musical scale and counts 294 steps. The tower raises 55 mts from the ground and the subsoil had to bear his enormous weight of around 14.453, tons and the center of gravity is about 22.6 high. The exterior foundation itself spans stand about 19.5 mts with a central aperture of 4.5mts. Construction Stage

It all started in 1173. The original two levels of the tower didnt lean, but the structure began to lean when construction moved to the third level and beyond in 1178. Various solutions were tried out once the architect took notice of the lean in 1185. The soil at the chosen site was much too unstable to support such a large structure. The construction stopped for nearly a century, because of Pisa's wars with the neighboring city Florence. Work started again in 1272 and four floors were built in an altered angle to the previous levels, but the Leaning Tower of Pisa started to lean in the direction of the taller side. In 1284 construction stopped again, because Pisa was conquered by Genoa in another war. In 1370 the tower, eight stories and 200 feet (60 meters) high, was officially completed.

The Problem Experts have been divided whether the problem was of static or was a sinking of the ground problem or even an effect designed by the architects. The foundation for the Tower of Pisa were laid in 1173, constructed mainly of marble and lime, the tower was built in a circular ditch, about five feet deep, over ground consisting of clay, fine sand, and shells. The cause of the lean is the reaction of the composite of clay, fine sand, and shells that the tower is built on. This soil mix is more compressible on the south side, but over the years as the tilt increased, the tower stopped sinking and began to rotate, causing the north side moving up toward the surface. Tests during the 20th century have conclusively proven that the inclination began after the construction. The study of the , subsoil has revealed an inter-layered clayish material washed by subterranean waters. The Solution The structure was subject to two main risk: structural failure of the fragile masonry and collapse due to the breaking up of the subsoil around the foundations. Recent possible solution were leading by installing a counterweight of about 660 tons on the north side of the tower's base in order to stop rotation. It failed. Then, during 1995 freezing of the inserting steel cables and freezing of the subsoil was tried, but this cause the lean to increase Later on, scientist and engineers detected that soil extraction was the key to bring the tilt back to stable conditions. Soil was extracted from two layers of earth: the top layer of sandy soil and the second of marine clay. While soil is being removed, the ground compression surges and clay consolidates, giving a stronger foundation. The drills extract soil from inside a casing without acting upon other elements or outside of it. The drill cavity closes smoothly when the drill is retracted, then soil settles, forming a cradle that cushions the tower as it shifts slightly to the north. By using this method, engineers have reduced the lean back toward the center by 20 inches (50 centimeters), where it was in 1838. The top of the tower now leans just over 13 feet (4 meters) off center.

Lesson Learned Footings are the most principal and important part of any building. It may guarantee your success or a total failure of the project. We have to learn from experiences and the Leaning Tower of Pisa, is one of the most beneficial experiences that we can have in the construction industry. Although, the problem of tilting is solved, you dont want to have that kind of problem in your project. Here are some tips to get you started when dealing with soft soils. 1- When Building over soft soils you may have to excavate down past the soft spot and place a deeper footing. 2- Replace the soft soil with adequate soil that will produce the bearing capacity specified in the design. 3- Build a bigger footing and reinforced it with additional steel (in concrete footings). 4- Use friction piling or end load bearing piling if the soil type below is suitable. 5- It is a common practice to flood the ground once the trenches have been dug and then to compact thoroughly. This improves cohesion and makes the soil considerably more stable to build on. 6- Injecting soil/cement slurry. This type of process requires four key pieces of equipment: a drill rig to advance the slurry to design depth, a batch plant or tank to mix the cement slurry, a pump to push the slurry to the drill rig, and specialized tooling to blend the cement slurry with soil in situ. 7- Using Geogrids will provide an effective mean for reducing pressure below traffic surface. There are different combinations and techniques for each particular project. It will all depend on the type of materials being used, the type of structure, and the specific soil conditions in each case. Furthermore, have in mind all the required regulations and codes that must be met in every condition.