CNN
It’s the ‘leaning tower’ that has stood tipsily – but steadily – for nearly 1,000 years. But now, the days of the Garisenda tower in Bologna, Italy, could be numbered. Following investigations last month, the city is instigating a civil protection plan for the “sudden and unexpected collapse of the tower,” which has dominated the Bologna skyline since the 12th century.
A protective metal cordon will be erected to “contain debris resulting from a possible collapse, to reduce the vulnerability of surrounding buildings and the exposure to the population, as well as blocking access to the off-limits area,” the city council said in a statement.
The cordon will be fixed into the ground, and will include specially designed rockfall protection nets, also made of metal and also anchored to the ground.
The warning of a possible collapse was issued in a 27-page report, shared with CNN, by the scientific committee which has monitored the site since 2019.
It puts the site on “high alert” and states that experts “believe that safety conditions no longer exist to operate on or around the tower, except within the framework of a civil protection plan.”
Monitoring of the site over the past month has revealed an “unexpected and accelerated trend” of “crushing” compression to the base of the tower, with gradual disintegration of the stone used to clad the base and cracks expanding in the brick above, it says.
Consolidation works which were already underway have been halted and an exclusion zone is to be built “in the fastest time possible.”
However, the tower isn’t on the verge of immediate collapse, a spokesperson told CNN.
“We’re acting as if it’s the worst case scenario but that’s not to say it’ll happen,” he said, adding that the precautions are currently on “yellow” alert rather than red, where collapse is imminent.
“We’re acting as if it’s about to collapse, but nobody knows when that could be – it could be three months, 10 years, or 20 years.
“If there was an imminent risk of collapse we’d evacuate everyone,” he said, adding that the monitoring equipment delivers readings every 15 minutes, meaning that they should get warning of a collapse, and can evacuate the surrounding area.
