San Francisco officials and the city’s team scrutinizing permit applications for shoring the 645-foot-tall Millennium Tower—which has settled 17 inches and tilted 4 inches over more than a decade—say the review will last several months. The fix scheme, likened to putting a bumper jack next to a flat tire, calls for drilling and jacking 52 piles—socketed into bedrock as deep as 250 feet—under the north and west sidewalks. The system would cost less than $100 million and take about 18 months to complete.

Permit applications dated December 3 were submitted by the Millennium Tower Association, which consists of the condominium homeowners. “Public safety is our top priority,” said the city in a December 4 statement. “We will process these permits expeditiously with peer review from experts and thorough analysis by city agencies. City departments will work with homeowners to ensure the structural fixes will protect all residents and the public.”