Leaning tower of Pisa begins to be stabilized

According to calculations by Paolo Napoli, an engineering professor at Torino Polytechnic, the Leaning Tower of Pisa is predicted to fall over between 2030 and 2040. In a race against its inevitable demise, engineers began reinforcing the base of the tower in summer of 1992.

In 1975, a competition was held to find ways to shore up the tower, but ended without a decision on how to proceed. Shortly thereafter, city officials stopped the pumping of water from nearby wells, finding that it caused the Pisa Tower to tilt further.

Other complex preservations strategies proposed in 1988 called for temporarily supporting the tower by a pair of steel braces until hydraulic could be embedded around the foundation to prevent further shifting. If that strategy failed, an underpinning structure of steel micro piles connected to brackets was to anchor the tower underground, transferring its load.

In 1992, a team of Italian engineers began implementing a simpler stabilization plan, suggested by Napoli, which applies a vertical force on the northern edge of the tower's base, opposite its tilt. The stabilization team excavated down to the footings of the building and then poured concrete and lead shot into the foundation to counterweight the upended base. In three months, the engineers have managed to reverse the tower's position by 0, 3 degrees, according to results unveiled at the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering Conference.

Vocabulary

to predict — предсказывать

inevitable — неминуемый

demise — смерть, кончина

to proceed — происходить; действовать дальше

well — колодец

to tilt — наклоняться

temporarily — временно

jack — домкрат; рычаг; клин

to embed — вставлять, врезать

shifting — смещение, сдвиг

unveiled — объявленный

/. Choose the right synonym.

1. The Leaning Tower of Pisa is predicted to fall over between 2030 and

2040.

a) designed b) decided c) foretold

2. A competition ended without a decision on how to proceed.

a) organized b) completed c) held

3. Other complex preservations strategies called for temporarily
supporting the tower by a pair of steel braces.

a) demanded b) chose c) caused

4. The stabilization team excavated down to the footings of the building.

a) changed b) took c) hollowed out

5. According to results unveiled at the International Association for

Bridge and Structural Engineering Conference the engineers have
managed to reverse the tower's position by 0, 3 degrees.
a) turn backward b) define c) create

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STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS