Reducing the Tilt

after more than two decades of stabilization studies and spurred by the abrupt collapse of the Civic Tower of Pavia in 1989. The bells were removed to relieve some weight, and cables were cinched around the third level and anchored several hundred meters away. Apartments and houses in the path of a potential fall of the tower were vacated for safety. The selected method for preventing the collapse of the tower was to slightly reduce its tilt to a safer angle by soil removal 38 cubic meters (1,342 cubic feet) from underneath the raised end. The tower's tilt was reduced by 45 centimeters (17.7 inches), returning to its 1838 position.