Save the Garisenda Tower, is the cry in Bologna.
Italian medieval towers have a tendency to lean. The notorious Tower of Pisa, truth be told, started leaning soon after being erected (between the XII and the XIV century), so for the Tuscan postcard-monument in piazza del Campo dei Miracoli the problem was a construction glitch rather than the burden of time.
ANSA/MARCO PISCOLLA
A similar story holds for the Garisenda in the historic center of Bologna. Recently declared at risk of collapsing, this testimony to the power of the eponymous family – built in 1109 next to the taller Torre degli Asinelli – was originally 60 meters in height, later reduced to 48 because of a structural failure: the ground was caving under its weight, just like in Pisa.
Today, the incline is becoming more and more dangerous. But the solution is at hand. The same traction trellis used to straighten the Pisa monument will now be adapted to the Garisenda and employed in Bologna.
The white-marbled, highly ornate Leaning Tower in Pisa was slowly pulled up over the course of several years by two 12-meters racks, anchored with a system of poles at a depth of 30 meters. Similar to braces meant to straighten teeth, the racks exerted a progressive traction (just enough to stabilize the Tower, without totally removing the lopsided charm that made it famous around the world).
The same mechanism will be applied to the Garisenda, minimizing the cost and the duration of the intervention. To stop the Tower from rotating on itself during the application of the traction, two contrasting structures will be used.
The whole project, in three different phases, will also include concrete injections in the foundation and will be completed with the placing of the tie rods. If the Italian bureaucracy will give all the necessary permits in a timely fashion, the restoration work should proceed by the end of 2024.
