# Safety precautions at the Leaning Tower of Pisa? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [January 8, 2019, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safety-precautions-at-the-leaning-tower-of-pisa/827428 "2019-01-08T20:44:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safety-precautions-at-the-leaning-tower-of-pisa/827428/1 "2019-01-08T20:44:39Z")
[Reading this column](https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/910/what-was-the-leaning-tower-of-pisa-for/), and noting that it mentions a similar structure collapsed, I got to wondering if the area in the direction the tower is leaning is cordoned off for safety, or when this thing goes will there be a number of flattened picnickers underneath it? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safety-precautions-at-the-leaning-tower-of-pisa/827428/2 "2019-01-08T21:49:28Z")
Well, they let people up in the tower, so I’m not sure the picnickers are the most pressing concern. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safety-precautions-at-the-leaning-tower-of-pisa/827428/3 "2019-01-08T21:49:45Z")
> [@](#): > > The tower was closed to the public on January 7, 1990, after more than two decades of stabilisation studies and spurred by the abrupt collapse of the Civic Tower of Pavia in 1989. The bells were removed to relieve some weight, and cables were cinched around the third level and anchored several hundred meters away. Apartments and houses in the path of the tower were vacated for safety. The solution chosen to prevent the collapse of the tower was to slightly straighten it to a safer angle by removing 38 cubic metres (1,342 cubic feet) of soil from underneath the raised end. The tower was straightened by 45 centimetres (17.7 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.[23] In total, 70 metric tons (77 short tons) of earth were removed. > **[Leaning Tower of Pisa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaning_Tower_of_Pisa)** > > The Leaning Tower of Pisa (Italian: torre pendente di Pisa \[ˈtorre penˈdɛnte di ˈpiːza, - ˈpiːsa\]), or simply the Tower of Pisa (torre di Pisa), is the campanile, or freestanding bell tower, of Pisa Cathedral. It is known for its nearly four-degree lean, the result of an unstable foundation. The tower is one of three structures in the Pisa's Cathedral Square (Piazza del Duomo), which includes the cathedral and Pisa Baptistry. > The height of the tower is 55.86 metres (183 feet 3 inches) from th... ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safety-precautions-at-the-leaning-tower-of-pisa/827428/4 "2019-01-08T22:04:54Z")
> [@](#): > > the tower was reopened to the public on December 15, 2001 and was declared stable for at least another 300 years Man, that’s the type of quote you expect to read in the news article after the tower collapses two weeks later. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safety-precautions-at-the-leaning-tower-of-pisa/827428/5 "2019-01-11T18:08:55Z")
[Unsurprisingly, the Tower is now constantly monitored, so even very minor movements get detected](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Giuseppe_Marano4/publication/305644812_Behavior_of_the_Leaning_Tower_of_Pisa_Analysis_of_Experimental_Data_from_Structural_Dynamic_Monitoring/links/579eff6508ae5d5e1e172350/Behavior-of-the-Leaning-Tower-of-Pisa-Analysis-of-Experimental-Data-from-Structural-Dynamic-Monitoring.pdf?origin=publication_detail). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safety-precautions-at-the-leaning-tower-of-pisa/827428/6 "2021-05-14T01:28:57Z")
Bumped with another article on the topic (from 2018). > **[Leaning Tower of Pisa loses some of its tilt | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/leaning-tower-of-pisa-tilt-scli-intl/index.html)** > > The Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy has ever so slowly started defying its name, losing 4 centimeters of its tilt over the past 17 years.