After a decade of effort, eight centuries of leaning may have been stabilized for the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa.A team of engineers and workers have been trying to stop the gradually increasing incline since the late 1990s, spending an estimated $40 million in the process.
The lead engineer this week claimed this is the first time in the tower's history that it has stopped moving. It took the excavation of 70 tons of soil from the northern side to get the tower to begin righting itself. In the past seven years, it became 19 inches straighter.
The tower, on which work began in A.D. 1173, was built as the bell tower of a cathedral. The construction continued, with two lengthy interruptions, for about 200 years. It started to lean during its construction despite various attempts to keep it perpendicular to the ground.
ON THE WEB
• The Official Tower Website
• Italy Guides: City of Pisa
• Restaurants, Cafes in Pisa
• Dowd's Guides
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