Tilting tower threatens school safety

A tilting historic tower in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, is threatening the safety of more than 700 teachers and students at a nearby middle school, Hsw.cn reports.

The six-story Wanshou Temple Tower, the only remaining building from the Wanshou Temple Complex dating back to the Ming Dynasty, started leaning towards the northwest after a heavy rainstorm in May, 2011. Workers installed three steel frames on the tower's third and fourth floors to support it and erected a one-meter-tall iron fence to isolate it from passersby.

The leaning tower, which overlooks the athletic field of Xiguang Middle School, has largely impeded sports activities. The area covered by the one-meter-tall fence constitutes one-fifth of the athletic field and divides the running track down the middle.

A student from a nearby group playing basketball on the school grounds said since the fence around the tower had been erected, students could not participate in races or some physical education activities.

Wang Qian, the school's principal, said school officials had reported the hazard to the Xi'an Cultural Relics Bureau and called teachers' and students' attention to the danger of the leaning tower through school announcements. He added that school administrators were especially concerned because the students were too young to know the extent of the danger, and that strong winds or heavy rains could exacerbate the problem.

An official from the Xi'an Cultural Relics Bureau said his office attached great importance to the issue and that it had already adjusted the tower's drainage system and consulted experts on the installment of the steel frames.

The official said the tower was stable at present and did not show any sign of further tilting. He added that the bureau had entrusted professional agencies to draft a plan to move the tower back into an upright position.