Image by Flickr user scmikeburtonImage by 20080804morris.jpg The Lowcountry's own leaning tower will soon be free of any unnecessary lack of levelness, if all goes according to plan.

The Post and Courier's Robert Behre updates us this week on Save the Light's efforts to keep the Morris Island Lighthouse from falling over. The lighthouse, definitely one of the most famous images in the Charleston area, has been leaning a bit farther over with each passing year.

In his column this week, Behre tells readers that the first phase of salvation has come to the lighthouse, which was the building of a cofferdam to keep waves from slamming against the structure (the major cause of the leaning).

From The Post and Courier:

The dam appears to have stopped the movement, and by year's end, the final work on the foundation could begin — work that will ensure the lighthouse remains standing for decades to come.

The next step will be the stabilization of the lighthouse, getting down into the foundation and setting things straight. Save the Light has a full diagram of the restoration plan, if you'd like to see how it's being done. The basic idea is to put grout beneath the lighthouse to level it out.

Behre's article goes on to give more details on the cofferdam, as well as how things will progress from this point during the next several months. The story also goes into the history of the lighthouse, and you can find more of that sort of thing on Save the Light's history page.