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The Leaning Tower
Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2023 6:00 am
by nerd_alert
of Bologna
Any of you been there? I have. At the time, the taller tower was accessible. It was so weird to climb to the top of it and look out. You just felt like the thing was going to fall over. It's not so much that I have a fear of heights, it is more a fear of landing.

Still heights kind of give me the willies. I did like visiting Bologna, great food town.
The tower they are worried about is the shorter one, which was lowered in the past since it was leaning so much.
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/bolo ... index.html
Re: The Leaning Tower
Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2023 1:52 pm
by stonedmegman
Bologna = Newfie steak
Re: The Leaning Tower
Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2023 3:13 pm
by Burn1dwn
I've gone 48 years only knowing about the leaning tower of Pisa.
Re: The Leaning Tower
Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2023 3:41 pm
by stonedmegman
Burn1dwn wrote: âSat Dec 02, 2023 3:13 pm
I've gone 48 years only knowing about the leaning tower of Pisa.
Everything leans in Italy. It's shaped like a boot because a shoe wouldn't hold all that shit.

Re: The Leaning Tower
Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2023 4:51 pm
by Burn1dwn
stonedmegman wrote: âSat Dec 02, 2023 3:41 pm
Burn1dwn wrote: âSat Dec 02, 2023 3:13 pm
I've gone 48 years only knowing about the leaning tower of Pisa.
Everything leans in Italy. It's shaped like a boot because a shoe wouldn't hold all that shit.
I guess I'm lucky that I'm the Sicilian type of Guido then.

Re: The Leaning Tower
Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2023 5:06 pm
by Animal
nerd_alert wrote: âSat Dec 02, 2023 6:00 am
of Bologna
Any of you been there? I have. At the time, the taller tower was accessible. It was so weird to climb to the top of it and look out. You just felt like the thing was going to fall over. It's not so much that I have a fear of heights, it is more a fear of landing.

Still heights kind of give me the willies. I did like visiting Bologna, great food town.
The tower they are worried about is the shorter one, which was lowered in the past since it was leaning so much.
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/bolo ... index.html
i have read about thoses two towers. Evidently, back during some era of time, families were known to build these towers as a show of their wealth (I think). So there were a bunch of them. I can't remember the whole story, but I remember reading that the one that leans so much had to actually be partially dismantled, making it shorter, because it was leaning so much. I think it leans at more of an angle than the famous tower in Pisa.
Re: The Leaning Tower
Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2023 6:31 pm
by necronomous
Burn1dwn wrote: âSat Dec 02, 2023 3:13 pm
I've gone 48 years only knowing about the leaning tower of Pisa.
There are two other leaning towers in Pisa.
Re: The Leaning Tower
Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2023 7:20 pm
by nerd_alert
Animal wrote: âSat Dec 02, 2023 5:06 pm
nerd_alert wrote: âSat Dec 02, 2023 6:00 am
of Bologna
Any of you been there? I have. At the time, the taller tower was accessible. It was so weird to climb to the top of it and look out. You just felt like the thing was going to fall over. It's not so much that I have a fear of heights, it is more a fear of landing.

Still heights kind of give me the willies. I did like visiting Bologna, great food town.
The tower they are worried about is the shorter one, which was lowered in the past since it was leaning so much.
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/bolo ... index.html
i have read about thoses two towers. Evidently, back during some era of time, families were known to build these towers as a show of their wealth (I think). So there were a bunch of them. I can't remember the whole story, but I remember reading that the one that leans so much had to actually be partially dismantled, making it shorter, because it was leaning so much. I think it leans at more of an angle than the famous tower in Pisa.
Yes, it was a status thing. I think you are correct about the shorter tower leaning more than the Tower of Pisa. I wonder if they will be able to do a similar abatement to help save the towers.
Another city famous for towers is San Gimignano. There's about 12 towers still standing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Gimignano
Re: The Leaning Tower
Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2023 2:16 am
by Animal
nerd_alert wrote: âSat Dec 02, 2023 7:20 pm
Animal wrote: âSat Dec 02, 2023 5:06 pm
nerd_alert wrote: âSat Dec 02, 2023 6:00 am
of Bologna
Any of you been there? I have. At the time, the taller tower was accessible. It was so weird to climb to the top of it and look out. You just felt like the thing was going to fall over. It's not so much that I have a fear of heights, it is more a fear of landing.

Still heights kind of give me the willies. I did like visiting Bologna, great food town.
The tower they are worried about is the shorter one, which was lowered in the past since it was leaning so much.
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/bolo ... index.html
i have read about thoses two towers. Evidently, back during some era of time, families were known to build these towers as a show of their wealth (I think). So there were a bunch of them. I can't remember the whole story, but I remember reading that the one that leans so much had to actually be partially dismantled, making it shorter, because it was leaning so much. I think it leans at more of an angle than the famous tower in Pisa.
Yes, it was a status thing. I think you are correct about the shorter tower leaning more than the Tower of Pisa. I wonder if they will be able to do a similar abatement to help save the towers.
Another city famous for towers is San Gimignano. There's about 12 towers still standing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Gimignano
the reason i remember the story, i think, was because while i was reading about it for the first time, i was wondering to myself "why did the tower of Pisa get top billing then?" I still wonder that.
Re: The Leaning Tower
Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2023 2:44 am
by CentralTexasCrude
Animal wrote: âSun Dec 03, 2023 2:16 am
nerd_alert wrote: âSat Dec 02, 2023 7:20 pm
Animal wrote: âSat Dec 02, 2023 5:06 pm
nerd_alert wrote: âSat Dec 02, 2023 6:00 am
of Bologna
Any of you been there? I have. At the time, the taller tower was accessible. It was so weird to climb to the top of it and look out. You just felt like the thing was going to fall over. It's not so much that I have a fear of heights, it is more a fear of landing.

Still heights kind of give me the willies. I did like visiting Bologna, great food town.
The tower they are worried about is the shorter one, which was lowered in the past since it was leaning so much.
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/bolo ... index.html
i have read about thoses two towers. Evidently, back during some era of time, families were known to build these towers as a show of their wealth (I think). So there were a bunch of them. I can't remember the whole story, but I remember reading that the one that leans so much had to actually be partially dismantled, making it shorter, because it was leaning so much. I think it leans at more of an angle than the famous tower in Pisa.
Yes, it was a status thing. I think you are correct about the shorter tower leaning more than the Tower of Pisa. I wonder if they will be able to do a similar abatement to help save the towers.
Another city famous for towers is San Gimignano. There's about 12 towers still standing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Gimignano
the reason i remember the story, i think, was because while i was reading about it for the first time, i was wondering to myself "why did the tower of Pisa get top billing then?" I still wonder that.
Not sure about the tower mentioned here but wasn't the Pisa tower famous mainly because you could climb the spiral stairs inside and hang out over the down side? Plus Da Vinci's experiments dropping different weights to prove they fell at the same velocity or whatever.
Re: The Leaning Tower
Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2023 2:54 am
by Animal
i really have no idea. i know you can go up in the tower at Pisa. But I have no idea if you can do that in the other one. Surely you can unless there is some kind of structural problem with it. I know the tower at Pisa has gone through several restorations and I think they just completed another one that should have it in good shape for a long time. I think they had to take just a little of the lean out.
Re: The Leaning Tower
Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2023 2:57 am
by CentralTexasCrude
Animal wrote: âSun Dec 03, 2023 2:54 am
i really have no idea. i know you can go up in the tower at Pisa. But I have no idea if you can do that in the other one. Surely you can unless there is some kind of structural problem with it. I know the tower at Pisa has gone through several restorations and I think they just completed another one that should have it in good shape for a long time. I think they had to take just a little of the lean out.
Yeah, I think nerd alert had the right word- abatement.
Re: The Leaning Tower
Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2023 3:01 am
by Animal
CentralTexasCrude wrote: âSun Dec 03, 2023 2:57 am
Animal wrote: âSun Dec 03, 2023 2:54 am
i really have no idea. i know you can go up in the tower at Pisa. But I have no idea if you can do that in the other one. Surely you can unless there is some kind of structural problem with it. I know the tower at Pisa has gone through several restorations and I think they just completed another one that should have it in good shape for a long time. I think they had to take just a little of the lean out.
Yeah, I think nerd alert had the right word- abatement.
it depends on what you mean by abatement. if you are talking about drilling piles or pumping grout under the foundation to solidify the soil and secure the foundation so that it is adequately supported, you can do that without decreasing the lean. In the case of the tower in Pisa they did both, secured the foundation and stood the tower up a bit so that it doesn't put so much weight on that side. I am sure there was some reason why they couldn't support it without correcting some of the lean.
Re: The Leaning Tower
Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2023 3:19 am
by stonedmegman
Animal wrote: âSun Dec 03, 2023 3:01 am
CentralTexasCrude wrote: âSun Dec 03, 2023 2:57 am
Animal wrote: âSun Dec 03, 2023 2:54 am
i really have no idea. i know you can go up in the tower at Pisa. But I have no idea if you can do that in the other one. Surely you can unless there is some kind of structural problem with it. I know the tower at Pisa has gone through several restorations and I think they just completed another one that should have it in good shape for a long time. I think they had to take just a little of the lean out.
Yeah, I think nerd alert had the right word- abatement.
it depends on what you mean by abatement. if you are talking about drilling piles or pumping grout under the foundation to solidify the soil and secure the foundation so that it is adequately supported, you can do that without decreasing the lean. In the case of the tower in Pisa they did both, secured the foundation and stood the tower up a bit so that it doesn't put so much weight on that side. I am sure there was some reason why they couldn't support it without correcting some of the lean.
If they corrected the lean all of the artisans would have to destroy their stock and start over.
Re: The Leaning Tower
Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2023 2:54 pm
by rule34
Re: The Leaning Tower
Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2023 11:27 pm
by JackCoughsALot
it's probably about time to fix the fucking thing
Re: The Leaning Tower
Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2023 12:12 am
by nerd_alert
necronomous wrote: âSat Dec 02, 2023 6:31 pm
Burn1dwn wrote: âSat Dec 02, 2023 3:13 pm
I've gone 48 years only knowing about the leaning tower of Pisa.
There are two other leaning towers in Pisa.
I did not know that. They are described in this article.
https://www.walksofitaly.com/blog/art-c ... pisa-facts
Re: The Leaning Tower
Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2023 12:15 am
by nerd_alert
Animal wrote: âSun Dec 03, 2023 3:01 am
CentralTexasCrude wrote: âSun Dec 03, 2023 2:57 am
Animal wrote: âSun Dec 03, 2023 2:54 am
i really have no idea. i know you can go up in the tower at Pisa. But I have no idea if you can do that in the other one. Surely you can unless there is some kind of structural problem with it. I know the tower at Pisa has gone through several restorations and I think they just completed another one that should have it in good shape for a long time. I think they had to take just a little of the lean out.
Yeah, I think nerd alert had the right word- abatement.
it depends on what you mean by abatement. if you are talking about drilling piles or pumping grout under the foundation to solidify the soil and secure the foundation so that it is adequately supported, you can do that without decreasing the lean. In the case of the tower in Pisa they did both, secured the foundation and stood the tower up a bit so that it doesn't put so much weight on that side. I am sure there was some reason why they couldn't support it without correcting some of the lean.
Actually, some of the things you suggest, have been tried in the past and actually made it worse.
I recalled that Nova did an episode on the tower back in 1999. Took some searching but I found it.
In short, the fix to correct the lean by 10% was soil extraction
https://archive.org/details/FalloftheLeaningTower
Re: The Leaning Tower
Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2023 12:52 am
by necronomous
I didnt know until I was there, and the person I was with, who lived there, showed me
Re: The Leaning Tower
Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2023 1:13 am
by Animal
nerd_alert wrote: âMon Dec 04, 2023 12:15 am
Animal wrote: âSun Dec 03, 2023 3:01 am
CentralTexasCrude wrote: âSun Dec 03, 2023 2:57 am
Animal wrote: âSun Dec 03, 2023 2:54 am
i really have no idea. i know you can go up in the tower at Pisa. But I have no idea if you can do that in the other one. Surely you can unless there is some kind of structural problem with it. I know the tower at Pisa has gone through several restorations and I think they just completed another one that should have it in good shape for a long time. I think they had to take just a little of the lean out.
Yeah, I think nerd alert had the right word- abatement.
it depends on what you mean by abatement. if you are talking about drilling piles or pumping grout under the foundation to solidify the soil and secure the foundation so that it is adequately supported, you can do that without decreasing the lean. In the case of the tower in Pisa they did both, secured the foundation and stood the tower up a bit so that it doesn't put so much weight on that side. I am sure there was some reason why they couldn't support it without correcting some of the lean.
Actually, some of the things you suggest, have been tried in the past and actually made it worse.
I recalled that Nova did an episode on the tower back in 1999. Took some searching but I found it.
In short, the fix to correct the lean by 10% was soil extraction
https://archive.org/details/FalloftheLeaningTower
i love Nova.
Re: The Leaning Tower
Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2023 2:13 am
by nerd_alert
necronomous wrote: âMon Dec 04, 2023 12:52 am
I didnt know until I was there, and the person I was with, who lived there, showed me
Too be honest, I bet a lot of those older buildings in Pisa have a bit of a tilt to them. I know if you look at the Cathedral at the right angle, you can see it had some uneven settling.
Re: The Leaning Tower
Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2023 2:37 am
by necronomous
nerd_alert wrote: âMon Dec 04, 2023 2:13 am
necronomous wrote: âMon Dec 04, 2023 12:52 am
I didnt know until I was there, and the person I was with, who lived there, showed me
Too be honest, I bet a lot of those older buildings in Pisa have a bit of a tilt to them. I know if you look at the Cathedral at the right angle, you can see it had some uneven settling.
Probably. Especially closer to the costal areas, which most of Italy is obviously.