The Big Ben is becoming the Leaning Tower of London

Even London may have its own “leaning tower”, the tower of the Westminster Palace Clock ( more known by the name of bell “Big Ben” inside)

The inclination of the tower would derive from weakening of the foundation, maybe due to the works done in the course of years (from the sewers of the nineteenth century to the underground parking for the parliamentarians in the 70’s) and makes that the Big Ben , 96 meters high, gets inclined by 0.9 millimeters every year.

Till today, the Big Ben has reached an inclination of 0.26 degrees, with the tip of the tower displaced by about 43 centimeters with respect to the base. For comparison, the Tower of Pisa is inclined by about 4 degrees.

The risk is that the Big Ben, continuing to incline may end up tumbling down on the Westminster Palace, seat of the English parliament. However it’s a very long term risk, if the velocity of movement does not accelerate in the course of time.

Translated by me from an Italian website