San Francisco’s Sinking Tower Has Stopped Sinking

San Francisco's Millennium Tower, the glassy luxury high-rise that's been slowly sinking and tilting for 15 years, has finally been fixed.

Engineers successfully halted the building's tilt through a years-long process referred to as the "Perimeter Pile Upgrade," officials in California announced on Wednesday.

The project involved the installation of 18 concrete piles, which transferred 18 million pounds of weight off the building's original foundation and relieved stress on the compressed soil beneath.

Officials said the tower has already recovered nearly one inch of tilt, with further recovery expected in the future. The tower is leaning about 30 inches to the northwest.

There is no specific timeline for when the building's tilt will be 100 percent corrected, but the restoration will "continue in the coming months and years," they explained.

"We look forward to completing the remaining non-structural elements of the Perimeter Pile Upgrade in the coming months," Association President Howard Dickstein said in a press release.

He added: "[we] are confident that the engineering upgrade will restore our building's reputation and the value of condominiums while putting to rest any lingering questions about the Tower's stability."

The final steps of the process include installing vaults and restoring surrounding infrastructure, such as muni lines, sidewalks and landscaping.

The 58-story Millennium Tower was constructed in 2009 and is the tallest residential building in San Francisco, reaching 645 feet. Its residents were allowed to remain in their homes during the engineering project.

The building's leaning issue was first disclosed to the public in 2016 when a 24-inch westward tilt and a 7.9-inch northward tilt were detected.

Since then, multiple attempts have been made to address the problem, leading to several legal disputes.

Lead engineer Ronald Hamburger said the most recent measures to stabilize the tower were "effective and practical," per the release.