LEANING TOWER of PISA INFORMATION
|
TOWER BASICS Official Name: TORRE PENDENTE DI PISA Function: Bell Tower (Campanile) Original Architect: Bonanno Pisano Architect who realized that the Leaning Tower could not be straightened: Tomasso di Andrea da Pontedera (1275) Years Built: 1173-1350 Latitude: 43.7167 (43° 43' 0" N) Longitude: 10.3833 (10° 22' 60" E) Elevation of Piazza dei Miracoli: About 6 feet, (2 meters) (DMS) First Construction Stop: 1178 (War with Firenze) Year in which lean became obvious: 1178 (Third Story) Height at which lean became obvious: 10.6 meters (35 ft.) Level at which Tower Straightens to North: 5 (About 110 meters) Second Construction Stop: 1185 (War with Firenze) Later Construction Stop: 1284 (War with Genoa, Major Sea Battle Defeat) Height: 55.863 meters (185 feet). 8 stories. Outer Diameter of Base: 15.484 meters Inner Diameter of Base: 7.368 meters Weight: 14,700 metric tons Thickness of Walls at the Base: 8 feet Direction of Lean: 1173-1250 North, 1272-1997 South
7th Floor Completed: 1319 Bell Tower Completed: 1350 First Bells added: 1198 (Third Floor) Total Number of Bells: 7, tuned to musical scale Largest Bell: L'Assunta (The Assumption). Three and a half tons, cast in 1655. Oldest Bell: Pasquarreccia. Address: Campo dei Miracoli - the "Field of Miracles", Pisa, Italia Year cement injected into base, (blamed for lean acceleration): 1934 Steps to Bell Tower: 294 Number of visitors who climbed to top in 1989: 700,000 Date Closed to Public: 7 January 1990 Date Re-opened to Public: 15 December 2001 Weight of Lead added on North side (picture above): 600 tons (1995) Amount of tilt recorded overnight in September 1995: 2.5 mm (0.07") Weight of Lead added after overnight tilt in September 1995: 230 tons Rate of Fall in 1990: 1.2 mm (1/20") every year ("Un millimetre per anno") Source: The Guardian (London) August 19 1997 Amount of tilt correction from 1990 - 1999: 25 mm (about 1.0") Amount of tilt correction from 1999-2001: 43.8 cm (about 17.25") Date that Tower was last at current tilt: 1700  Galileo and the Leaning Tower of Pisa  From German publication of 1810: "Bilderbuch for Children": In addition to the famous baths, which are in its vicinity, the old town of Pisa, located on the Arno River, below the Grand-Duchy of Florence, has buildings most worthy to fix the attention of travellers. The Plaza of the Cathedral offers several illustrated here - on the left we notice initially the dome of the baptistery, named after Saint John the Baptist, whose cupôla finishes in a peak. It was built in the years 1152 to 1264, a present of king Ruggieri of Sicily, as well as the gracious gift of 34,000 Pisan families who provided the stone masonry. It is covered with marble. In the middle of the plaza rises, in the shape of a Latin cross, the cathedral devoted to the Virgin, built in its entirety in marble, having the most beautiful bronze doors. The finest artists of Italy came to decorate it - mosaics, carvings of bas-reliefs and statues. On view at the right, the bell-tower called the Torre Pendente, inclined tower, the tallest structure in the city, with a base 14 to 15 feet thick. It is 142 feet tall. Built on unstable ground, this bell-tower subsided while it was built and there remains. One also sees the most beautiful marble statues here, which were part of the old Greek temples since destroyed.
Lean Data Provided by Prof. Pierotti:
1.43 meters (1298) (Giovanni Pisano, reconstructed by P. Sanpaolesi)
3.79 meters (around 1550) (Vasari, six arms and half)
3.79 meters (1787 and 1812) (By Morrona, six arms and half)
3.84 meters (1817) (Crasy & Taylor, 12 feet and 7 thumbs)
4.04 meters (1911) (Pizzetti) (+ 20 cm Crasy & Taylor)
The 1911 measure was taken from the outside of the seventh cornice with a theodolite
(not from the inside with a plumb line) and therefore the resulting linear values are greater
due to the thickness of the cornice, leaning relative to the body of the tower.
Other Sources:
Lean: 1.63 meters (1360)
Lean: 1.43 meters (1372) The Guardian (London) August 19 1997
Lean: 3.77 meters (1550)
Lean: 4.75 meters (1817)
Lean: 4.8 meters (1935)
Lean: 5.2 meters (1997)
by Dr. Fernando Lizzi, Distinguished Engineer from Naples:  Open Letter to the Minister of Public Works
Italian
Legislation regarding Restoration of the Leaning TowerLeaning
Tower Descripition posted by Hotel DiStefano, PisaLeaning
Tower of Pisa Architecture by David SpeiserAnalytical Work by Vittorio Novelli:
A Definitive Proposal to Save the Tower of Pisa
Structural Analysis related to the Tower of Pisa
Phases of Construction
News Article about Vittorio Novelli
Trouble at the Leaning TowerConstruction Details by Prof. Piero Pierotti:
History
Date of Construction
The Measurements
The Construction
The Stairs
The Bell Tower
Pioretti Leaning Tower WebsiteArtWatch International:
ArtWatch Comment
Tower Troubles
Experts Wrangle Over Best AnglePARTICIPANTS and CONTRIBUTORS to the TOWER'S HISTORY  Bonanno Pisano Architect of Tower (attributed) Galileo Galilei Experimenter at the Tower ? |
Michele Jamiolkowski
|
Politecnico di Torino professor Chairman, Consorzio Progetto Torre Di Pisa Past President, ISSMFE/ISSMGE International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering Professor, Dipartimento di Ingerieria Strutturale |
John B. Burland
|
Professor of Soil Mechanics Member, Pisa Commission Department of Civil Engineering Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine Imperial College Road, SW7 2BU |
Piero Pierotti
|
Professor at University of Pisa Art and Architecture Historian University of Pisa, Edelboden Superior 12, 10020 Gressoney la Trinité (Aosta), Italy. pierotti@arte.unipi.it |
|
ArtWatch International
|
James Beck, President Columbia University jameshbeck@aol.com |
Vittorio Novelli Surveyor from Cesena (Forlì)
Commissions and Committees 1298 Commission - Giovanni Pisano, Guido Di Giovanni, Orsello 1840 Commission - Castinelli, Lapi, Martolini 1907 Commission - Bernieri, Canavari, Cuppari, Fedeli, Galli, Pizzetti, Socini 1912 Commission - Bacci, Bernieri, Canavari, Ceradini, Cuppari, Giudi, Ongaro, Susinno, Toscanelli 1924 Commission - Bernieri, Canavari, Canevari, Fascetti Giulio, Fascetti Giuseppe, Giovannoni, Susinno 1925 Pisan Committee - Allegretti, Bacci, Bernieri, Bertuzzi, Canavari, Cerpi, Fascetti Giulio, Fascetti Giuseppe, Ferrucci, Lecci, Manghi, Puntoni, Simoni, Ugolini 1926 Pisan Committee - Bernieri, Buffarini Guidi, Fascetti Giulio, Fascetti Giuseppe, Lecci, Manghi, Niccolai, Puntoni, Simoni, Ugolini 1926 Pisan Committee - Bernieri, Canavari, Cassinis, Cicconetti, De Marchi, Fascetti Giulio, Niccolai, Petri, Sesini, Ugolini 1927 Pisan Committee - Battaglia, Canavari, Cassinis, Ciappi, Cicconetti, Crema, De Marchi, Fantoli, Fascetti Giulio, Giovannoni, Guidi, Pellati, Poggi, Sesini, Susinno, Ugolini 1932 Commission - The proceedings are remembered but the names of the members were not documented. It was a "special commission" entrusted to attend to the works of 1934-35. 1949 Commission - Albenga, Arcuri, Ballantini, Ballrin, Boaga, Donato, Fascetti Giulio, Fortini, Franco Fausto, Girometti, Leschiutta, Marcantoni, Marchesi, Mario, Moncelli, Natoni, Noccioli, Pepe, Pistolesi, Ramalli, Rendola Rosi, Sanpaolesi Piero, Spina, Trevisan 1964 Commission - Bendini, Beneo, Camanni, Ceschi, Cestelli Guidi, Croce, Franco Antonio, Giusti, Locatelli, Lumini, Marcheti, Molajoli, Noccioli, Pistolesi, Polvani, Prete, Roselli, Sanzo, Savarese, Schultze, Skempton, Trevisan, Vozzi 1965 Commission - Bendini, Beneo, Bonatti, Calabresi, Camanni, Canepa, Carrara, Caselli, Ceschi, Cestelli Guidi, Croce, D'Alessandro, Da Porto, De Sanctis, Franco Antonio, Gangemi, Giusti, Locatelli, Lumini, Maccagni, Marchetti, Marussi, Molajoli, Noccioli, Ortolani, Pistolesi, Polvani, Prete, Ricci, Roselli, Rosini, Salvioni, Sanzo, Savarese, Schultze, Selleri, Skempton, Tornar, Trevisan, Viggiani, Vozzi 1965 COMMISSION President prof. GIOVANNI POLVANI At the end of its session the 1965 commission set the form of the completed task. The proclamation undertook 22 articles, in principal they were: 1. Application of actions to the tower that produce a reverse to its movement. 2. Modification of the existing foundation with insertion of piling under the old and new structures. 3. Stabilization of the earth based on favorable deformations caused by appropriate measures. 4. Amelioration of the pertinent mechanical properties of the meaningful volume of the ground underlying the tower. 5. Reduction of the inclination not more than one degree equal to 1.019 Meters of lean. 1972 Commission - Agresti, Berti, Bertolini, Capriotti, Cestelli Guidi, Conte, Croce, D'Ambrosio, De Sanctis, Evangelista, Faltelli, Guasco, Kezdi, Locatelli, Lumini, Noccioli, Occhiuzzi, Prete, Rossi Adriano, Rossi Eugenio, Schultze, Secchi, Selleri, Silvestro, Spanò, Toniolo, Tornar, Travaglini, Trevisan, Zuppardi 1983 Commission - Bartelletti, Berardi, Caroti, Finzi, Jamiolkowski, Ragghianti, Sanpaolesi Luca 1988 Technical Committee - Calzona, Daniele, Del Monte, Gabbani, Giangreco, Gurrieri, Jappelli, Pozzati, Scarselli, Selleri 1990 Committee for the introductory operations (intended for appointment): Burland, D'Elia, Desideri, Di Stefano, Jamiolkowski, Gurrieri, Lemaire, Leonards, Leonhardt, Veniale, Viggiani Paolo Heiniger Universita Di Pisa Piazza Del Duomo Pisa, Italia Tel: 00 39 50 555 786 University of Pisa Web Site: http://www.unipi.it/ Luca Sanpaolesi Engineer, Professor of the Science of Construction on the Faculty of Engineering Roberto di Stefano Professor, Committee Member Ranieri Favilli The tower's octogenarian keeper (1998) Seven Wonders of the World Architectural Elevation and Section 
Cresy and Taylor - 1817 Leaning Tower of Pisa Information Leaning Tower of Pisa History Leaning Tower of Pisa Articles Leaning Tower of Pisa News Leaning Tower of Pisa Web Links Leaning Tower of Pisa Humor Leaning Tower of Pisa Gallery  This Page maintained by: Gary Feuerstein |