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mageba sa
Trafostrasse 1
8180 Bulach
Switzerland
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The Leaning Tower of … St. Moritz?
Although not as well-known as the world-famous Leaning Tower of Pisa, the idyllic resort town of St. Moritz in the Swiss Alps has its own leaning tower which requires attention from time to time in order to prevent it from falling over – and mageba has been supporting the work for decades.
This year, mageba returned to St. Moritz for the third time since 1983 to protect the town’s 33m-high, 16th century tower from the relentless ground movements that slowly but surely cause it to lean to one side. Each time, hydraulic jacks are used to carefully lift the tower at one side before installing new bearings – and then the slow cycle continues until the tilt of the tower approaches the “safe” angle limit of five degrees once again, making another correction necessary.
This time, rather than installing RESTON®POT or RESTON®SPHERICAL bearings as before, it was decided to use RESTON®PENDULUM bearings instead – a bearing type that can additionally function as a seismic isolator in case of an earthquake. With experience in lifting structures all over the world to replace their bearings – including twice at this particular tower – mageba knew exactly how to go about carrying out the work efficiently and without jeopardising the structure’s safety.
It seems likely that further corrective actions will be required in the coming decades as the hillside beneath the tower continues to experience movements – and mageba’s Swiss team will be ready to provide any support needed when the time comes.
Client’s engineer: Pini Gruppe AG
Owner: Gemeinde St. Moritz
Contractor: D. Martinelli AG
