MEXICO: Sinking City

There was talk of crisis in Mexico City last week. Architect Mario Pani and Engineers Héctor Maganda and Armando Oseli separately warned that the capital was sinking. Through thousands of wells, they said, subterranean water was being pumped out of the old dry lake bed on which the city stands. As a result, the whole city sank more than seven inches last year. The Palace of Fine Arts, already six feet lower than its original level, settled still more. Grades changed as Mexico City drank up its own footing.

The engineers' remedy: stop...

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