The study of soil and its implications in construction
You, who are a faithful follower of our website, already knows that knowing about soil is important for several areas of knowledge, including Civil Engineering.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa, in Italy, is an example of how the lack of knowledge about soil characteristics can cause damages to a building. But, you must be asking if this tower is not that one known worldwide and touristic point exactly because of its inclination, must not you? But did you know that this inclination was not purposeful? It was a mistake that eventually worked, but let's stick to the facts.
The Tower of Pisa began to be built in 1173, at that time obviously did not exist a tool capable of performing the soil penetration test and verifying if it could resist or not to the construction load. However, civil and military engineers of that time already knew the importance of soil as a building support. Therefore, we can conclude that only with the resources of that time, it was possible to evaluate whether or not the soil would support the tower structure.
But, unfortunately or fortunately, the soil analysis that was used to build the tower probably was not done correctly, since at the end of the construction, it was noticed a slightly leaning of the first three floors.
Trying to compensate that inclination, the engineer in charge of the project, named Bonanno Pisano, ordered the construction of another five floors, slightly higher on the side where the structure hung down, in an attempt to make the tower appear to be normal, despite the inclination.
Bad choice! The increase in weight on that side caused the soil to yield even more. We know that this decision was hasty, because it was necessary a soil intervention, since it was due to the soil characteristics that there was the structure leaning.
Nowadays, researchers affirm that the inclination occurred because that soil was predominantly composed of sand and clay particles, which are weak materials to support the building weight, causing it to “sink” into the soil.
But, stay calm, if you want to visit the Tower of Pisa, it does not offer any risks of collapse anymore, since were made interventions that could decrease the inclination, as well as maintain the structure stable.
Little did the engineer know that this extremely serious error would bring countless tourists to the city of Pisa, right? He was “lucky”, but we must not forget that, in general, if the soil does not withstand the stresses due to edification, there may be rebounding’s that cause aesthetic damages as in this case, but also total ruin of the structures.
And now? Do you still think that the soil is not important to Civil Engineering? I do not think so, right! So, follow our page and share it with your colleagues, if you do not want to miss any updates from the world of Soil Science. See you soon!
