High alert in Italian town as 'leaning tower' at increasing risk of collapse

After remaining steady for almost 1,000 years, the Garisenda tower – also known as the 'leaning tower' - located in Bologna town of Italy is now facing the risk of collapsing because of excessive leaning, as per reports.

Since the 14th century, the 150-foot tall tower has continued to lean at an angle of 4 degrees when officials made efforts to remove the top of the building to stabilise it. The iconic Tower of Pisa has been leaning at 5 degrees.

Through the years, extensive work has been done by Italy to maintain the integrity of the tower.

However, now the tower is excessively leaning and the officials have been forced to bring into action a civil protection plan. As per CNN, the tower now stands at risk of a "sudden and unexpected collapse".

Also read: Medieval 'leaning tower' in Italian city tilting too much, to remain closed for few years

The tower will now be surrounded with a metal cordon for containing the debris and decreasing the vulnerability of surrounding buildings, if it collapses.

“A protective cordon will be erected to contain debris resulting from a possible collapse, to reduce the vulnerability of surrounding buildings and the exposure to the population, as well as blocking access to the off-limits areas," said the city council, in a statement.

The scientific committee, which has been monitoring the site, since 2019 has issued the warning. Sensors were installed by the scientific committee to measure the ancient tower's movements.

The committee stated that their readings recorded in October 2023 had triggered alarm bells, as reported by CNN.

Crushing compression observed in tower's base

The 'high alert' warning said that an "unexpected and accelerated trend" of "crushing compression" has been observed in the base of the tower. It added that the cracks present in the stones which are present in the base can expand the bricks which are placed above.

As soon as the report was published, the area around the tower was shut down by the civic officials and all roads which were leading to it were closed down.

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Earlier it was reported that the square which surrounds the medieval “leaning tower” in the Italian city of Bologna will remain closed for “a few years” as concerns regarding too much tilting of the 12th-century structure increased.

The city’s mayor Matteo Lepore had said it was necessary to close Piazza di Porta Ravegnana so as to “save” the Garisenda tower. “We’re not intervening because we think it could collapse at any moment, we’re intervening because we want to make it safe and restore it,” he added, as reported by The Guardian.

(With inputs from agencies)