Renovation of China's highest brick pagoda almost complete

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Renovation of China's highest brick pagoda, which has been going on for the last three decades, is nearly complete, authorities here said on Thursday.

The pagoda, located at Kaiyuan temple in Dingzhou city in Hebei province, is the highest existing brick tower in the country. Dating back 936 years, the towering brick-and-wooden structure stands at 83.7 metres tall, Xinhua news agency reported.

It was damaged in an earthquake in 1884, but renovation did not start until a century later because of difficulty finding materials and recreating old techniques, said Chen Junfeng, a renovation expert working on the project.

"The pagoda is disproportionate and imbalanced, because there are more than a dozen types of bricks, with each accepting a different amount of force. Therefore, it can not be reinforced using cement," said Chen.

The top of the pagoda leans toward the southwest in summer and northwest in winter due to the wind.

The renovators built another layer of brick and tile outside the pagoda and used a steel structure to connect to the old bricks.

The exterior of the pagoda has been renovated and experts are putting the finishing touches to the tower.