SEMINAR

Geotechnical
Characterization Of The
Subsoil Of Pisa Tower
Presented By
P. B. S. ANIL KUMAR
Under The Esteemed Guidance Of
Dr. D. KOTESWARA RAO
Professor of Civil Engineering

CONTENTS
HISTORY
CONSTRUCTION
SUBSOIL PROPERTIES
LEANING INSTABILITY
STABILIZATION WORKS
A GLIMPSE INTO THE FUTURE
CONCLUSION

HISTORY
Leaning tower of Pisa is one of the four great religious edifics.
(The Pisa Cathedral, The Pisa Baptistry, The Leaning tower of
Pisa and The Monumental Cemetery) collectively known as
Cathedral Square.

HISTORY
The construction of the tower started on 9th August 1173 and ended in
the year 1370 .
The real identity of the architect who is behind this wonderful
construction is still a mystery.
However, Bonanno Pisano & Gherardo din Gherardo in the first phase
and Giorani di Simone & Tommaso Pisano in the second phase are the
guessing architects.
The height of the tower is 55.86m from the ground in the low side &
56.67m on the high side. The weight is estimated at 14500 metric tons.

HISTORY

CONSTRUCTION
The design of the tower was described to the Architect and Sculptor
BONANNO PISANO.
The construction was started in the year 1173 and done till 5 years i.e.,
up to 1178.
A huge interruption took place from 1180 to 1271.
Again it was started in 1272 and done for 6 years i.e., up to 1278.
And the 2nd interruption of construction took place from 1279 to 1360.
The third phase of construction started in 1360 and ended in 1370.
All the above phases can be shown in the following figure.

CONSTRUCTION

SUBSOIL PROPERTIES
The Subsoil of the leaning tower of Pisa belongs to the Alluvial
(Holocene-Pleistocene) deposits of the Arno River which are undergoing a
generalized subsidence.
According to (MPW 1971), the Polvani Committee has defined a detailed
geological profile including three different horizons for the first 60m on the
basis of the previously mentioned investigations.
Horizon A: Upper variable deposits from 3m - 10m.
Horizon B: Clayey deposits from 10m - 40m.
Horizon C: Lower sand deposits from 40m - 60m.
The foundation of the tower, only 3m deep was built on a dense clay
mixture and imparted the soil.

SUBSOIL PROPERTIES

Soil
profile

LEANING INSTABILITY
The Leaning tower of Pisa began to lean in 1178 once construction on the second

loor had begun. The lean was due to one side sinking into the soft ground.
The form of motion is consistent with the phenomenon of leaning instability rather
than an iminent bearing capacity failure (Hambly, 1985).
In simple terms, leaning instability of a tall structure occurs at a critical height when
the overturning moment generated by a small increase in inclination is equal to or
larger than the resisting moment generated by the foundations.

LEANING INSTABILITY
No matter how carefully the structure is built, once it reaches
the critical height the smallest perturbation will induce leaning i
nstability. As pointed out by Hambly, leaning instability is not d
ue to lack of strength of the ground but is due to insufficient st
iffness.
The observation that the north side had been steadily rising
led directly to the suggestion that the application of a lead
counterweight to the foundation masonry on the north sid
e
could be beneficial as a temporary stabilizing measure by
reducing the overturning moment (Burland et al, 1993).

LEANING INSTABILITY

STABILIZATION WORKS
Temporary foundation stabilization measures :
Temporary stabilisation of the foundation was achieved during the second half of
1993 by the application of 600t of lead weights on the north side of the foundations
via a post-tensioned removable concrete ring cast around the base of the Tower at
plinth level.
This caused a reduction in inclination of about one minute of arc and, more
importantly, reduced the overturning moment by about ten percent.
In September 1995 the load was increased to 900t in order to control the
accelerating southward movements of the Tower during an unsuccessful attempt t
o replace the unsightly lead weights with temporary ground anchors.
This difficult period during the Committees activity has been called Black
September and is referred to in Figure.

STABILIZATION WORKS

STABILIZATION WORKS
Permanent foundation stabilization measures:
A permanent solution was sought that would result in a small reduction in inclinatio
n of the Tower by half a degree which is not enough to be visible but which would
reduce the stresses in the masonry on the south side and stabilise the foundation.
These included drainage beneath the north side using wells, consolidation beneath
the north side by electro-osmosis and loading the ground around the north side of th
e Tower by means of a pressing slab loaded by ground anchors. None of these metho
ds proved satisfactory.
At this stage, the idea of slightly reducing the inclination of the Tower by means of
controlled ground extraction under the north side of foundation began to attract the
interest of the Committee.
This method, known as under-excavation, gradually evolved. It involves installing a
number of soil extraction tubes adjacent to and just beneath the north side of the
foundation.

STABILIZATION WORKS

STABILIZATION WORKS
Additional foundation stabilization works :
During the work of the Committee, a 0.8m thick cement-conglomerate ring was
detected in the bottom of the catino around the base of the Tower.
This ancient concrete ring is of high quality and it has now been connected to the
masonry foundation of the Tower by means of stainless steel reinforcement and ha
s been strengthened by circumferential post-tensioning.
As a result, the effective area of the foundations has been substantially increased t
hereby increasing the factor of safety against leaning instability.

A GLIMSE INTO THE FUTURE

While monitoring of the Tower continues, the question from the scientific community and from the
media is..... How the Tower will behave in future?
Because of the complexity of the phenomena controlling this, almost unique, soil-structure
interaction problem, an unequivocal answer is not possible. The issue has been debated by the
authors who envisage the two following possible scenarios:
1.

Optimistic Scenario: The phenomenon of the leaning instability has been stopped, continuing
rotation ceases, except for some minor movements caused by the seasonal oscillations of the g
round water and of the effects of the solar radiation on the masonry.

2. Pessimistic Scenario: After the completion of time effects of the under-excavation, the Tower will
remain motionless for a period estimated as a few decades, followed by a possible resumption of
the southward rotation.

A GLIMSE INTO THE FUTURE

Expected future behaviour of the Leaning Tower of Pisa

0-1
1-2
2-3
3-4
4-5
5-

Steady motion towards South of Tower before intervention

Reduction of inclination during intervention
Delayed effect of intervention
Tower motionless
Southward rotation resumed
Rotation rate as before intervention

CONCLUSION
Continuing increase of foundation inclination with time was originated by the combined effects of th
e

foundation soil creep and of the ground water oscillation within Horizon A.

It seems clear that the future behaviour of the Tower will depend to a large extent on the continued
effectiveness of the drainage system on the north side.

Finally it should be emphasised that, thanks to the non invasive nature of the under-excavation, in al
l events and at any time in future, this kind of intervention can be repeated to reduce once again the til
t of the foundation by the required amount.

THANK YOU