Angle-of-the-dangle competition

There appears to be a competition between the Italian city of Pisa and the Dutch town of Bedum to claim the shonkiest construction work of the 12th Century.

The Tower of Pisa is being challenged by a lesser-known 12th-century building in the northern Dutch town of Bedum as Europe’s most steeply leaning tower.

Retired geometrician Jacob van Dijk said measurements this week on Bedum’s 36-metre church tower of Walfridus revealed it is now leaning more than its Italian rival, which lost part of its tilt following restoration works.

At a height of 55.86 meters, Pisa’s tower leans about 4 meters, while Bedum’s tower leans 2.61 meters on its height of 35.7 meters. If both towers were the same height, Bedum would have a greater tilt of 6 cm, Van Dijk argues.

“In Italy they’re happy with the result, but here in Bedum we are much more happy, because the tower of Pisa is now leaning less than the tower of Bedum,” said Van Dijk.

Using this online tool, and all things being equal, we can see that the Walfridus Church tower in Bedum leans at about 4.2°, compared with the Tower of Pisa at about 4.1° (although Wikipedia currently has it at 3.97°).

So, congratulations to Bedum! One can only suggest they’ll have to gussy up their dour-looking church tower if they want to be in serious contention for the international tourist dollar.

click to enlarge — image source abc.net.au