Leaning Tower of Pisa:
Heated Exchange Between the
Professors John Burland and Michele Jamiolkowski
(PISA, Italia, 16 November 1997) Distributed with the morning l'Unita "The Tower could collapse at any moment" "It is not true, there is not any danger" Article by Gigi Multatuli (PISA, Italia, 16 November 1997) - There is still argument over the Tower of Pisa. Worrisome this time because discord extends to the inside of the international Committee for safeguard of the monument. The exchange, in fact, is between the professor John Burland and the coordinator Michael Jamiolkowski. The declarations of Burland professor of engineering of the Imperial College in London, in the English magazine "Ground Engineering" do not leave doubts about the urgency to make the earth firm within months: "The Tower of Pisa could collapse at any moment. An earthquake or a storm could make the tower fall. But the bigger risk is that the structure is disintegrating because of the tension cables." Immediate was the reaction from coordinator Jamiolkowsky , who said, annoyedly, that "There is no danger of collapse for the tower and there is not any motive for alarm." At the end of the month, 29 and 30 November, the committee will return to consider this situation and deliberate definitively on the plan of subexcavation and of the safety mass (800 tons of lead counterweight) of the tower that, itself, weighs 15 thousand tons. The worries of Burland are the same as those of the dell'Opera Primaziale Ecclesiatica: "It is necessary to reactivate the site, to overcome the dead times like these quickly, and to restart the work according to the approved plan." A plan that the new members of the committee, named last summer, have substantially greeted. The plan of the work that will end in 1999 foresees that subexcavation will be implemented on earth around the base opposite from the tilted side. At the same time, the tower will be supported by two safety cables that will prevent possible yeldings caused by the subexcavation if it provokes reactions not anticipated by the members of the committee. The plan has been discussed for years and its normal progress has been slow, initially due to litigation, because it lacked legal approval and, then, by the renewal of the committee, in order to allow a deeper understanding of the issues. And now, during the last reunion, the committee has stopped execution of the work, and implemented a phase of experimentation and core boring under the tower to monitor the reactions of the monument. If everything will settle down, the work will proceed at a fast pace. A second accusation of Burland has provoked an outright denial by Jamiolkowski, in relationship to the English professor's declaration about the cost of the work. According to Burland the plan would cost 60 billion while the coordinator of the committee states that "it will cost at least five times less than estimated by Burland." The 21 billion lira for Pisan art is not only for the Tower. Yesterday morning, provincial and town aldermen, Aurelio Pellegrini and Grazia Gimmelli, presented the investments enacted by the local government for the restoration of each cultural entity. The regional alderman, Marialina Marcucci, was not present because of an unexpected appointment. In the three years just concluded they have reserved 21 billion for investment into restoration work like the Monumental Cemetery and the Church of the Spina on the Lungarno. And also the Lanfranchi palace that will reopen in January with an international show on Leopardi. While there is not much to be admired among the frescos of the Cemetery of Piazza dei Miracoli that had been damaged and removed from their natural setting after the terrible bombardment in the war, the territory of the Pisan province has been to a large extent involved with 12 interventions that represent a quarter of those operated in all the region. They have also been interested in the work in the communes of Vicopisano and Cascina; Santa Maria a Monte where the tower of the Clock will be inaugurated the next December 22; and Pomarance with the Sillana fortress and the restoration of Bicocchi house.
Translated by Gary Feuerstein, 23 March 1998 from an article originally posted by Prof. Piero PIEROTTI
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