Why does the Leaning Tower of Pisa lean?

The Foundation of the Leaning Tower of Pisa sprang in 1173. Its construction was halted several times because of various reasons such as war, debt, and the engineering tries to get an insight and to find a solution to correct the lean. It was eventually built in the mid-1300s.

In the year 1172, Donna Berta di Bernardo provided 60 silver coins to the local cathedral to purchase stones to be used in the base of a new bell tower. The following year, construction on the tower commenced. It is the church’s bell tower and is an essential Italian seaport. Its glory and power increased slowly with years.

When the construction began in 1172, and a year later, the groundwork was laid down. It was built on sand-clay soil; it is said that the foundation was set on poor soil. Because of this, it commenced learning when construction to the third floor started. There was hardly any work done, and the work stopped as Pisa went to war against Florence, because of which the work stopped for a century.

It is good that the work stopped as the soil started to stiffen, else it would have collapsed. When work on the tower continued again, it was tilting 0.2 degrees north of the vertical. The work began back, and as the workers approached the seventh floor, the tower was leaning one degrees south.

There are a lot of architects whose name comes as the original designer of the tower. The first name that comes is Bonnano Pisano; he is known for his great works in Pisa. His name is there at tower bolsters which claim that he had a significant contribution in its making.

It was constructed as a freestanding bell tower for the cathedral in Pisa. The building was halted twice, the first time for 100 years and the second time in 1284. Both times it was stopped because of war. Inside the tower, there are seven bells, and every bell represents one note of the musical major scale. Nobody is yet able to discover who was its actual architect. (See Why is the Statue of Liberty green?)

It weighs about 14,500 tons; it is a lot of weight, especially when the building is leaning. It has about 294 steps on the north side and 296 on the south side. The structure is 186 ft. At the lower point, it is 183 ft. The degree of inclination is at 3.9 degrees. It has eight stories with an outer diameter of 50 ft.

An old Pisan is saying, “The tower that leans, that leans, that will never come down.” But the concern is how true this saying is? It has been observed that in the last decades of the 20th century, there has been a major increase in the tilt angle that made the danger of collapse. But work has been done, and as per experts, it is now competent for at least three more centuries. (See Why is There a Hole in Texas Stadium?)