So the new Pilot Tower in the Port of Genoa becomes a record of stability

Another piece of the great project around the Waterfront di Levante in Genoa is taking shape in the sign of Made in Italy innovation. By the end of the month the new Pilot Tower in the port of Genoa, designed by Renzo Piano, will be equipped with an innovative active damping system for vibrations caused by the wind that will make it unique in terms of safety and stability.

The system was created by Isaac, a Milan-based company specialising in the design and production of anti-seismic systems born in 2018 from an idea of Alberto Bussini, at the time an engineering graduate student at the Milan Polytechnic, and which has become excellence in worldwide anti-seismic systems. Isaac is the first company in Europe to have patented a technology dedicated to existing buildings, without the need for structural and invasive interventions. On Wednesday, the system will be installed on the 'cap' of the tower, which is 65 metres high and has a surface area of 800 square metres. Unlike systems such as the earthquake-proof sphere in the Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taiwan, which weighs 660 tonnes and is installed inside the building, Isaac's innovation uses a combination of machines (active mass dampers) installed on the building - in this case on the tower cap - and electric motors that accelerate them up to the speed of a supercar - 100 km/h in 1.4 seconds - to balance the movement of the structure and eliminate vibrations, reducing structural stress.

The solution can be applied to any type of building, from apartment blocks to offices, from schools to hospitals, and 15 systems have already been installed in Italy.

The next step is to put the solution to the test on historic buildings. Tomorrow, at the Eucentre Foundation in Pavia, the effectiveness of the Electro Pro system - in synergy with Mapei's seismic protection systems - will be tested on a 12 metre high masonry bell tower rebuilt inside the centre. According to an analysis by Gea - Green Economy Agency carried out with the study centre of the National Council of Engineers, since 1968 (Belice earthquake) Italy has spent approximately 122 billion euro on the reconstruction required following eight major seismic events, not counting minor ones. To get an idea of how much of a difference a system like Isaac's can make, tests of the first version of the technology, put to the test using the 6.9 magnitude Irpinia earthquake as a reference, demonstrated a 57.4% increase in stability on the third floor of the test building in response to a tremor of more than 100% intensity in the Irpinia earthquake. The Electro Pro system is its evolution: and its reduced size (by more than 1/5 in mass and about 1/3 in area) makes it easier to install.

Costs start at EUR 70,000 per machine (inertial axis): a medium-sized 1960s-70s building in a moderately seismic zone requires four to 12. The whole thing starts within a few weeks. The last installation, on a school building, took less than two months.