A Masterpiece of Italian Engineering

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Florence, Italy
Monday, October 26, 2009

As I sat on the steps of the Duomo in Pisa and watched the people milling about the leaning tower, I started thinking about engineering. You see, the leaning tower of Pisa wasn't designed to sit at that angle, but through a series of engineering mishaps and miracles it has ended up that way. What started out as a simple bell tower for the town's church turned into the symbol of a town that you probably would have never heard of without it, as well as one of the most popular sights in Italy. What does this have to do with engineering? Everything!

Tower construction ran into a horrible snag around the completion of the third floor, as the ground on one side began to give way and the tower started to shift. The engineers in charge of the project were pretty oblivious to the conditions of the soil, and rather than give up on the construction of the tower (or move it to another location), they decided to try and correct the problem by shifting the upper levels slightly to put more weight on the side opposite the sink hole. Surprisingly, that held up for quite a while, as the tower has been standing at it's current height for almost 700 years. There have been several efforts over the years to correct it's lean or to prevent any further changes in angle, some which worked and some which wound up causing damage to the area. But they never gave up. The engineers in charge of the projects kept trying until they found solutions that eventually worked.

This situation reminded me why I became an engineer in the first place. It was to solve problems. I haven't always felt that I was making large contributions to the projects I have worked on, and that's been one of the things plaguing me in recent years. I felt that I wasn't really doing much good, and didn't see much of a point in what I was doing. There can be a lot of bureaucracy and paperwork, and what seems like pointless busywork on occasion, but I do see where the small contributions I make to the project can make a difference in the long run. Sure, the projects I'm working on probably won't be around 800 years from now, but if I can contribute and make my time at work have a bit more meaning, while still separating work from the rest of my life, then I think I can continue to be an engineer. I'm going back to work because I would like to give it one more try.

See you soon

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Photos

The duomo
The duomo with the tower in the background

Tower
Look at the tilt on that baby

Comments

[geoffy]

how introspective