The restoration of the Pisa tower: when working site and tourism coexist
The peculiar condition of the leaning tower of Pisa has always influenced the way of reading the monument,
encouraging innovative intervention solutions such as the sub-excavations performed in order to reduce
the inclination of the structure. Even in facing the restoration of the stone surface, an approach involving
the traditional scaffolding appeared to be inadequate due to base loads evidently incompatible with the
delicate static equilibrium of the tower as well as the complete external covering of the structure obscuring
its sight for almost a two-year period.
The suggested solution consisted in the development of the restoration operations by slots corrisponding
to the architectural orders of the tower through the realization of comfortable horizontal work surfaces and
the limitation of the tilting moment caused by eccentricity.
Such a solution resulted in the minimisation
of the visual impact of the scaffolding and the possibility for tourists to visit the monument.
