The approach
In 1173 they started in Piazza dei Miracoli (square of wonders) to the building of the tower of Pisa. Five years later, when three floors had already been built, the tower began to slope through the soft ground. Because the inhabitants of Pisa came to war with Genoa and Florence, the construction of the tower was delayed for about 100 years silent. This gave the soil time to harden. If the tower were completed in one go, he absolutely fell over. In 1272 construction of the tower was resumed and it was decided on the one hand more mortar (a certain kind of fine concrete) than on the other side to compensate for the skewness of the first three floors. After this, construction fell again for such a 50 years silent. Finally, in 1372 the last floor built. This one was built straight again. Because this floor is built perpendicularly, the tower has not only become crooked, but also curved.
The result
Despite the architects' attempts to straighten it, the tower has been threatened with toppling over several times. Due to expensive renovations – the last phase of the renovation cost no less than 28 million euros – is the tower stabilized now. The tilt was in 1993 four and a half meters, now it has been reduced to four meters.
The lessons
Prior to the construction of the Tower of Pisa, the quality of the soil was not properly looked at and the tower started to slope because the soil was too soft.. Unforeseen circumstances subsequently ensured that the tower did not immediately fall over and the Tower of Pisa still stands today.
With the modern technology that we have at our disposal nowadays, it is possible to put the tower straight again, but because of tourism it has been canceled. Today, more than a million tourists visit the Leaning Tower of Pisa every year whose entrance fee 18 euros is.
The most important lesson is that what at first sight looks like a failure, can grow into a world famous building. Suppose the Leaning Tower of Pisa was 'successful'’ and had been right, the tower had become world famous?
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