The city fathers of Pisa, Italy needed to invest city monies into the repair of the famous Leaning Tower. Engineering experts had predicted that unless its foundation was reinforced, the Tower would collapse. The city’s problem was how to do it and how to fund the work. Should they put in a temporary fix or should they do it thoroughly? They bit the bullet and have properly repaired the problem. The Tower should last another 500 years or so before additional repairs will be needed.
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At its finish, the architect stepped back a bit to look at his creation, Giggled, "I saved some money! I scrimped on the foundation!" No one would ever know. His reputation was quite intact.
"He's a downright good designer. Witness his upright Tower of Pisa!"
That money saved bought gifts for his wife (quite glamorous, no hag), Yet, the monies he lavished upon her would cause his building to sag. And sag it did, dramatically. Tourists thronged from far to see, Would they ever have come to see it, if it stood straight as a tree?
The Tower has changed science's face. It was Galileo's lab site. He leaned out over the edge, dropped two balls; one heavy, one light. It is good the Tower leaned a bit because when he let the balls go They landed simultaneously far below, instead of on a toe.
City fathers recently had a problem. They couldn’t let the Tower fall, They needed to keep it leaning slightly and the inevitable stall, 'Cause that's why tourists go there. They bring in heavy Euro, They've been coming for 800 years to look into history's bureau.
They had to repair it somehow. Collapse meant financial trouble. Tourists would not come to Pisa to view a leaning pile of rubble. The bureaucrats wanted to fix it, but wanted to do it cheap, All those revenues the Tower generates? They wanted to dearly keep.
The city planners repaired it right. They didn’t cut any corners. They had to do it properly or be among the Tower's mourners. Repair it properly? or patch it up? was their dilemma's meaning, For cutting corners originally is the reason the Tower is leaning.
Cute poem It's funny, but the Romans knew how to do it and some of their work still stands. We built some buildings in my thirty years at the University. Several of them have been torn down and replaced because of foundation problems that were supposed to been corrected before they were built. So much for throwing money after money.
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Ron