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Thanks to towering structures built all over cities, all across the world, there is a very real threat of injuries or deaths caused by buildings with structural problems. As such, the discovery that the Millennium Tower skyscraper that stands tall in San Francisco is actually sinking is rightly causing a lot of concern among planners and engineers.
The data gathered regarding the sinking tower was made by Sentinel-1 satellites from the European Space Agency (ESA), Phys.org reports. The purpose of the data was to help scientists with improving the planning of city layouts for future projects, taking into account certain discrepancies with regards to ground stability and materials used.
What makes the case of the Millennium Tower sinking so interesting is the fact that it’s a newly built skyscraper, which was only completed in 2008. The 58-storey structure has been called the “leaning tower of San Francisco” by a few who found amusement in the fact that shortly after it was completed, residents noticed that it was a bit askew.
Right now, there are no exact details with regards to exactly what is causing the building to sink, but the newly gathered data is irrevocable proof that the tower is indeed on unstable ground. According to CBC, many scientists and engineers believe that the biggest contributor to the tilted position of the tower is due to the fact that the soil it is resting on is not firm bedrock.
The satellites also managed to gather quite a bit of data that pertains to the overall terrain of the area surrounding San Francisco. For example, the city of Pleasanton is showing a bulge in the land, which is being attributed to the return of underground water. Thanks to the drought that plagued the surrounding region for the last four years, much of the groundwater disappeared. Now that it’s back, it’s forcing the soil to uplift.
