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SUMMARY:Rescuing the Leaning Tower of Pisa - Professor John Burland\, Emer
 itus Professor at Imperial College London
DTSTART:20160120T193000Z
DTEND:20160120T203000Z
UID:TALK63821@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Stefan Ritter
DESCRIPTION:Imagine a tower\, founded on very soft material and slowly inc
 lining to the point at which it is about to fall over. Worse still\, the m
 asonry is so fragile that it could explode at any time. This is a reasonab
 le description of the state of the Leaning Tower of Pisa at the time that 
 the Italian Prime Minister set up a Commission to stabilise it in early 19
 90. After years of study of its history\, computer modelling and field tri
 als\, stabilisation measures started in February 1999. Using a novel metho
 d of soil extraction from beneath the high side of the foundation the Towe
 r was gently brought back to its inclination in 1838. Recent measurements 
 show that the stabilisation methods have been successful. Professor John B
 urland will share some of the challenges\, frustrations and more worrying 
 moments of participating in such a high profile and difficult engineering 
 project.
LOCATION:Junior Parlour\, Trinity College 
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