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FIRST, THE LEANING TOWER OF PISA IS rescued. Then, Fallingwater--the sagging house of Pennsylvania. Workers are completing a post-tensioning procedure designed to put a stop to the historic sagging of the hallmark cantilevered portion of the 64-year-old Fallingwater, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The 15-ft cantilever, which perches the landmark over a waterfall, has been propped since 1997.
Insufficient reinforcement caused the 15 x 62-ft concrete slab to sag soon after the Mill Run house, about 70 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, was completed in 1937. The post-tensioning raised the cantilever about 1/2 to 3/4 in., lifting it slightly above the shoring.
The process was not intended to restore the cantilever, which has sagged more than 7 in. in places, to its original position, say engineers. ``It would be much more damaging to bring the original shape back,'' says Mario Suarez, senior consultant for South Norwalk, Conn.-based Schupack Suarez, the project's post-tensioning specialist.
The delicate structural fix is part of a $11.5-million restoration of the house and grounds, slated for completion in 2005, that includes...