Infrastructure protectionNew barrier system to protect Venice from rising seas
The City of Venice, Italy has carried out the first test of its $7.3 billion barrier system designed to protect the city from rising sea levels. The system, known as MOSE (MOdulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico), consists of seventy-eight mobile barriers divided into four sections at the three inlets to the Venice lagoon.
Schematic of Venice's Moses barrier system // Source: wunderground.com
The City of Venice, Italy has carried out the first test of its $7.3 billion barrier system designed to protect the city from rising sea levels. The system, known as MOSE (MOdulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico), consists of seventy-eight mobile barriers divided into four sections at the three inlets to the Venice lagoon.
The Global Post reports that on Saturday, 12 October 2013, Italian transport minister Maurizio Lupi, Venice mayor Giorgio Orsoni, and other officials were on hand for the first test of the system. “This is a very important and emotional moment,” Orsoni told AFP. “This will change the view one may have about the city and its lagoon, because don’t forget, it is a whole, the city and the lagoon are one.”
Seventy-eight box-shaped barriers will be inserted into tanks on the seafloor. When rising high waters threaten the city, pressured air will be pumped into the barriers, elevating them to defend against the tidal flow. When the tidal flow is no longer a threat, the air will be expelled and the barriers will be filled with water and sunk back to the sea floor.
The barriers will be activated when the water is 3.6 feet above normal levels. The barriers are not expected to defend against all high water scenarios, but they will protect the city from severe flooding events which occur up to seven times a year when the high tide in the Adriatic rises to about 3.2 feet.
Venice’s vulnerability to rising water levels has worsened over the years. The city sank about nine inches during the twentieth century.
Construction of the project began in 2003 and is expected to be fully completed in 2017, three years later than originally scheduled. One reason for Delays in the project were investigations into corruption in contract awards. Fourteen people were placed under house arrest in July. Giovanni Mazzacurati, former head of Venezia Nuova, is the company which was the project manager, issuspected of distorting public tenders for the construction and favoring particular companies. Fifty companies have been involved in the project.
