Leaning Tower of Pisa

What is the Leaning Tower of Pisa?

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is a freestanding bell tower in the Italian city of Pisa,known worldwide for its nearly four-degree lean, the result of an unstable foundation. The tower is situated behind the Pisa Cathedral and is the third-oldest structure in the city's Cathedral Square, after the cathedral and the Pisa Baptistry.

The height of the tower is 55.86 meters (183.27 feet) from the ground on the low side and 56.67 meters (185.93 feet) on the high side. The width of the walls at the base is 2.44 m (8 ft 0.06 in). Its weight is estimated at 14,500 metric tons (16,000 short tons). The tower has 296 or 294 steps; the seventh floor has two fewer steps on the north-facing staircase.

The tower began to lean during construction in the 12th century, due to soft ground which could not properly support the structure's weight, and it worsened through the completion of construction in the 14th century. By 1990 the tilt had reached 5.5 degrees. The structure was stabilized by remedial work between 1993 and 2001, which reduced the tilt to 3.97 degrees.

Surviving Earthquakes

At least four strong earthquakes hit the region since 1280, but the apparently vulnerable Tower survived. The reason was not understood until a research group of 16 engineers investigated. The researchers concluded that the Tower was able to withstand the tremors because of dynamic soil-structure interaction (DSSI): the height and stiffness of the Tower together with the softness of the foundation soil influences the vibrational characteristics of the structure in such a way that the Tower does not resonate with earthquake ground motion. The same soft soil that caused the leaning and brought the Tower to the verge of collapse helped it survive.

Building the Tower

Stage 1: Creating the Pillars

  • Log into TinkerCAD

  • Load up a square and a cylinder

    • Square Dimensions

      • 7x7x2

    • Cylinder Dimensions

      • 5x5x30

  • Align the square and the cylinder

  • Duplicate the square and move it off to the side

  • Group the first square and the cylinder

  • Align the second square and the cylinder, but this time have the second square align at the top and not the bottom

  • Group the second square and the pillar.

Stage 2: Creating the arch

  • Load up two squares and a round roof.

  • Square 1 Dimensions

    • 20x20x20

  • Squre 2 Dimensions

    • 18x20x10

  • Round Roof Dimensions

    • 18x20x9

  • Make square 2 and the round roof holes

  • Align square 2 and the round roof.

  • Raise the round roof 10mm off the ground

  • Group square 2 and the round roof

  • Align the created hole and the box

    • X - Middle

    • Y - Middle

    • Z - Bottom

  • Group the hole and the box

  • Change the dimensions of the arch

    • 20x7x20

  • By utilizing the rules of circumference, we know that each pat of the arch is 1mm in width.


Stage 3: Creating the Siding

  • Duplicate the pillar

  • Using a ruler, place the first pillar at 0, 0, 0

  • By using the rules of a two step equation, we can determine that if we want to have equal length on both parts of the pillar, we need to solve the following equation.

    • 2x + 1 = 7

  • Thus, we know that we need to align the arch and move it 3mm from 0,0,0 on the ruler.

  • The arch also needs to be raised 30mm, making the final location 3,0,30.

  • Then group the first pillar and the arch.

  • Rotate the grouped pillar/arch 180 degrees.

  • Move the second pillar to 0,0,0.

  • Move the arch to 3,0,0

  • Group the second pillar and arch.

Stage 3a: Making a circle

  • Duplicate the panel.

  • Move panel 2 so that the left pillar is inside of the right pillar of panel 1

  • Rotate panel 2

    • 22.5 degrees

  • Reposition panel 2 so it aligns as close as possible.


Stage 3b: Making a circle

  • Duplicate the double panel.

  • position the double panel in relation to the initial double panel

  • rotate 45 degress.

  • Duplicate the quad panel

  • position the quad panel in relation to the initial quad panel

  • rotate 90 degress.

  • Duplicate the semi-circular panel

  • position the quad panel in relation to the initial quad panel

  • rotate 180 degress.

  • Group it all.

Stage 4: Building a Base

  • Using the ruler, determine the size of your circle

  • Drop a cylinder on the work plane

  • reside the cylinder to be 4mm bigger in diameter than your circle and two mm tall.

  • Align the circle and the cylinder and then group.

Stage 5: Building the Internal Building

  • Using the ruler, determine the size of your circle

  • Drop a cylinder inside the work plane

  • Resize the cylinder until it looks good to you and mimics the Tower of Pisa

  • Make the cylinder 52mm tall

    • Mine ended up being 60x60x52

  • Align and group.

Stage 6: Building the Tower

  • Duplicate and stack the tower six times.

  • Remember, there are a total of seven floors in the Tower of Pisa

  • Build another cylinder floor and add it to the top of your tower


Stage 7: Building the Bell Tower

  • The seventh floor design is up to you.

  • Remember, be artistic, but also use the bell tower in the Tower of Pisa as a model.