MOSE Project, Venice, Venetian Lagoon - Water Technology A three-dimensional picture of the MOSE flood gate system. MOSE Project, Venice, Venetian Lagoon, Italy Venice is under serious threat due to the rise in sea level and sinking of land at an alarming rate. The MOSE project will protect the Venetian Lagoon from being submerged by the Adriatic Sea and protect the famous city of Venice and the neighbouring areas from flooding. It is expected to be operational by 2014. "When completed, it will safeguard Venice and the villages located within the Venetian Lagoon from flooding, and prevent the further rise of the sea level." MOSE, the Italian word for Moses, is an acronym for Modulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico, which means Experimental Electromechanical Module. The name aptly alludes to the story of Moses parting the Red Sea. The project will prevent flooding through the installation of 78 mobile gates at three inlets, namely Lido, Malamocco and Chioggia, which will separate the Venetian Lagoon from the Adriatic Sea.

Consorzio Venezia Nuova has been entrusted to carry out the project by the Venice Water Authority, with Astaldi holding a share in the project. It is a consortium of Italian construction companies, co-operatives and firms which are experienced in operating the lagoon. The construction work on the project began in 2003 after much delay. As of June 2012, 75% of the work at the site has been completed. The project is expected to be fully completed by 2014. When completed, it will safeguard Venice and the villages located within the Venetian Lagoon from flooding, and prevent the further rise of the sea level. Background to the Modulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico (MOSE) project The Great Flood of 1966, which caused massive loss of life and property, and the sinking of the city by 11 inches during the course of the last century, provided the momentum and necessity to protect Venice. The reasons for the sinking of the city of Venice are principally attributed to the rise in the sea level and extraction of ground water and methane gas within the vicinity of the Venetian Lagoon.

"MOSE, the Italian word for Moses, is an acronym for Modulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico, which means Experimental Electromechanical Module." MOSE took shape after being loomed over by a number of consultations and controversies. The proposal to provide a safe measure from flooding dates back to the 1970s. In 1973 a Special Law was enacted, under which six project proposals were accepted after invitations from Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) and later taken up by the Ministry of Public Works in 1980. The feasibility study for the proposals were completed in 1981 under a project named Progettone, which proposed the setting up of fixed barriers at the inlets, including mobile defence structures. The second Special Law of Venice to provide criteria and strategies took shape under a committee known as the Comitatone, which enabled the Ministry of Public Works to grant a single concession for the companies agreed upon by private negotiation.

In 1982 Consorzio Venezia Nuova was entrusted by the Water Authority to design and implement the measures to safeguard the city, which was presented in 1989 under a project named Riequilibrio E Ambiente (REA), which translates as Rebalancing and the Environment. It provided an abstract design of the mobile barriers at the lagoon inlets and was finally approved in 1994 by the Higher Council of Public Works. The first environmental impact study was accepted in 1998 and was improved in 2002. Construction work of MOSE finally started in 2003. Floodgates and components of the Venetian Lagoon project A total of 78 mobile gates are being laid at the bottom of the seabed as part of the MOSE project. They are 92ft long, 65ft wide and will weigh 300t. The mobile gates being laid at the bottom of the inlet channel are supported by 125ft long steel and concrete pilings, measuring 500mm in diameter and 20m in length, driven into the lagoon bed.

The floodgates consist of a metal box structure. Compressed air is pumped into the structure when a tide of more than 110m height is expected. The air will rise up the barriers to the surface of the water to block the flow of the tide and prevent water from flowing into the lagoon. Floodgates are hollowed at the bottom, to allow the blowing of compressed air. They will be filled with water and lowered into the seabed when there is no harm of flooding. The floodgates at each inlet will function independently depending on the force of the tide expected. The MOSE project also includes strengthening of the coastal areas, raising the quaysides and paving of the city. Contractors involved with Venice's MOSE scheme In.Te.Se costruzioni d'acciaio designed and constructed two hydraulically self-propelled loading carriages for the project. The loading carriages are being used in moving and positioning the reinforcing piles vertically. The batching plants used for construction in the MOSE Project are supplied by SIMEN. Financing the flood protection project The total investment for constructing the MOSE Project is estimated at €7bn ($8.8bn).

CIPE (Interministerial Committee for Economic Programming) financed the project in three instalments, of €450m ($568m), €709m ($896m) and €380m ($480m) respectively, in November 2002, September 2004 and March 2006. In addition, CIPE financed €243m ($307m) in August 2007, €400m ($505m) in January 2008, €800m ($1bn) in December 2008, €230m ($290m) in November 2010 and €600m ($758m) in December 2011. The remaining funds required for the project will be looked after by the Committee for Policy, Coordination and Control (Comitatone).

Share mose project - 必应 Sign in MOSE Project MOSE (MOdulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico, Experimental Electromechanical Module) is a project intended to protect the city of Venice, Italy, and the Venetian Lagoon from flooding. The project is an integrated system consisting of rows of mobile gates installed at the Lido, Malamocco and Chioggia inlets that are able to temporarily isolate the Venetian Lagoon from the Adriatic Sea during high tides. Together with other measures such as coastal reinforcement, the raising of quaysides, and the paving and improvement of the lagoon, M ... (展开) OSE is designed to protect Venice and the lagoon from tides of up to 3 metres (9.8 ft). The Consorzio Venezia Nuova[note 1] is responsible for the work on behalf of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport – Venice Water Authority.[note 2] Construction began simultaneously in 2003 at all three lagoon inlets, and as of June 2013, more than 85% of the project has been completed.

1 2668 MOSE project was planned to be built under the sea water to stop floods. Before the gates are in use, they are under the sea and full of water. When the flood comes, the water in the gates will be poured out, and then the gates will be filled with air. So the gates can go up with the sea water. 哪位能翻译一下呢？再者，不是水都从水闸中被倒出去了吗？怎么又说水闸带着海水上升呢（最好一句）？ 答 MOSE Project Origin of the name Before the acronym was used to describe the entire flood protection system, MOSE referred to the 1:1 scale prototype of a gate that had been tested between 1988 and 1992 at the Lido inlet. The name also holds a dual meaning, as MOSE is an allusion to the biblical character Moses ("Mosè" in Italian), who is remembered for the story where he parted the Red Sea.

MOSE Project Context MOSE is part of a General Plan of Interventions to safeguard Venice and the lagoon commenced in 1987 by the Ministry of Infrastructure through the Venice Water Authority (the Ministry's operational arm in the lagoon) and the concessionary Consorzio Venezia Nuova. The measures already completed or underway along the coastline and in the lagoon are the most important environmental defense, restoration, and improvement program ever implemented by the Italian State.[citation needed] In parallel with the construction of MOSE, the Venice Water Authority and Venice Local Authority are raising quaysides and paving in the city in order to protect built-up areas in the lagoon from medium high tides (below 110 centimetres (43 in), the height at which the mobile barriers will come into operation). These measures are extremely complex, particularly in urban settings such as Venice and Chioggia where the raising must take account of the delicate architectural and monumental context. Measures to improve the shallow lagoon environment are aimed at slowing degradation of the morphological structures caused by subsidence, eustatism, and erosion due to waves and wash.

Work is underway throughout the lagoon basin to protect, reconstruct, and renaturalise salt marshes, mud flats and shallows; restore the environment of the smaller islands; and dredge lagoon canals and channels. Important activities are also underway to redress pollution in the industrial area of Porto Marghera, at the edge of the central lagoon. Islands formerly used as rubbish dumps are being secured while industrial canals are being consolidated and sealed after removal of their polluted sediments. MOSE Project Objectives The aim of MOSE is to protect the lagoon, its towns, villages and inhabitants along with its historic, artistic and environmental heritage from floods, including extreme events. Although the tide in the lagoon basin is lower than in other areas of the world (where it may reach as high as 20 metres (66 ft)), the phenomenon may become significant when associated with atmospheric and meteorological factors such as low pressure and the bora, a north-easterly wind coming from Trieste, or the Sirocco, a hot south-easterly wind. Those conditions push waves into the gulf of Venice.

High water is also worsened by rain and water flowing into the lagoon from the drainage basin at 36 inflow points associated with small rivers and canals. Floods have caused damage since ancient times and have become ever more frequent and intense as a result of the combined effect of eustatism (a rise in sea level) and subsidence (a drop in land level) caused by natural and man-induced phenomena. Today, towns and villages in the lagoon are an average of 23 centimetres (9.1 in) lower with respect to the water level than at the beginning of the 1900s and each year, thousands of floods cause serious problems for the inhabitants as well as deterioration of architecture, urban structures and the ecosystem. Over the entire lagoon area, there is also a constant risk of an extreme catastrophic event such as that of 4 November 1966 when a tide of 194 centimetres (76 in) submerged Venice, Chioggia and the other built-up areas. Floods effects are exacerbated due to greater erosion by the sea caused by human interventions to facilitate port activities (e.g.

through the construction of jetties and artificial canals); establishment of the industrial Porto Marghera area; and increased wash from motorized boats, which all aggravate erosion of morphological structures and the foundations of quaysides and buildings. In the future, the high water phenomenon may be further aggravated by the predicted rise in sea level as a result of global warming. In this context, MOSE, together with reinforcement of the barrier island, has been designed to provide protection from tides of up to 3 metres (9.8 ft) in height. MOSE will therefore effectively protect the lagoon, even if the most pessimistic hypotheses are proven true, such as a rise in sea level of at least 60 centimetres (24 in) (recent estimates from the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) predict a rise in sea level of between 18 and 59 centimetres (7.1 and 23.2 in) over the next 100 years). MOSE is flexible and can be operated in different ways according to the characteristics and height of the tide.

Given that the gates are independent and can be operated separately, all three inlets can be closed in the case of an exceptional event, the inlets can be closed one at a time according to the winds, atmospheric pressure and height of tide forecast, or again, each inlet can be partially closed.

Exceptionally high waters have struck the city during the 20th century: the flood of November 1966 (194 centimetres (76 in)), 1979 (166 centimetres (65 in)), 2007 (160 centimetres (63 in)), 1986 (158 centimetres (62 in)), 1951 and 2012 (151 centimetres (59 in)), 1936 and 2002 (147 centimetres (58 in)), 1960 (145 centimetres (57 in)), 1968 and 2000 (144 centimetres (57 in)), 1992 (142 centimetres (56 in)), 1979 (140 centimetres (55 in)).

All values were recorded at the Punta della Salute (Venice) station and refer to the 1897 tidal datum point.[citation needed] MOSE Project Chronology Following the flood of 4 November 1966 when Venice, Chioggia and the other built-up areas in the lagoon were submerged by a tide of 194 centimetres (76 in), the first Special Law for Venice declared the problem of safeguarding the city to be of "priority national interest". This marked the beginning of a long legislative and technical process to guarantee Venice and the lagoon an effective sea defence system. To this end, in 1975 the State Ministry of Public Works issued a competitive tender, but the process ended without a project being chosen from those presented as no hypothesis for action satisfied all the mandated requirements. The Ministry subsequently acquired documents presented during the call for tender and passed them to a group of experts commissioned to draw up a project to preserve the hydraulic balance of the lagoon and protect Venice from floods (the "Progettone" of 1981). A few years later, a further Special Law (Law no.

798/1984) emphasised the need for a unified approach to safeguarding measures, set up a committee for policy, coordination and control of these activities (the "Comitatone", chaired by the President of the Council of Ministers and consisting of representatives of the competent national and local authorities and institutions) and entrusted design and implementation to a single body, the Consorzio Venezia Nuova, recognising its ability to manage the safeguarding activities as a whole. The Venice Water Authority – Consorzio Venezia Nuova presented a complex system of interventions to safeguard Venice (the REA "Riequilibrio E Ambiente", "Rebalancing and the Environment" Project), which included mobile barriers at the inlets to regulate tides in the lagoon. In this context, between 1988 and 1992, experiments were carried out on a prototype gate (MOdulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico, hence the name MOSE) and in 1989, a conceptual design for the mobile barriers was drawn up.

This was completed in 1992 and subsequently approved by the Higher Council of Public Works then subjected to an Environmental Impact Assessment procedure and further developed as requested by the Comitatone. In 2002 the final design was presented and on 3 April 2003, the Comitatone gave the go-ahead for its implementation. The same year, construction sites opened at the three lagoon inlets of Lido, Malamocco and Chioggia. MOSE Project Operating principles MOSE consists of rows of mobile gates at the three inlets, which temporarily separate the lagoon from the sea in the event of a high tide. There will be a total of 78 gates divided into four barriers. At the Lido inlet, the widest, there will be two rows of gates of 21 and 20 elements respectively linked by an artificial island (the island connecting the two rows of gates at the centre of the Lido inlet will also accommodate the technical buildings housing the system operating plant); one row of 19 gates at the Malamocco inlet and one row of 18 gates at the Chioggia inlet.

The gates consist of metal box-type structures 20 metres (66 ft) wide for all rows, with a length varying between 18.5 and 29 metres (61 and 95 ft) and from 3.6 to 5 metres (12 to 16 ft) thick, connected to the concrete housing structures with hinges, the technological heart of the system, which constrain the gates to the housing structures and allow them to move. Under normal tidal conditions, the gates are full of water and rest in their housing structures. When a high tide is forecast, compressed air is introduced into the gates to empty them of water, causing them to rotate around the axis of the hinges and rise up until they emerge above the water to stop the tide from entering the lagoon. When the tide drops, the gates are filled with water again and return to their housing. The inlets are closed for an average of between four and five hours, including the time taken for the gates to be raised (about 30 minutes) and lowered (about 15 minutes).

To guarantee navigation and avoid interruption of activities in the Port of Venice, when the mobile barriers are in operation, a main lock is under construction at the Malamocco inlet to allow the transit of large ships, while at the Lido and Chioggia inlets there will be smaller locks to allow emergency vessels, fishing boats and pleasure craft to shelter and transit. Operating procedure dictates that the gates will be raised for tides of more than 110 centimetres (43 in) high. The competent authorities have established this as the optimum height with respect to current sea levels, but the gates can be operated for any level of tide. The MOSE system is also flexible and depending on the winds, atmospheric pressure and level of tide, it can oppose the high water in different ways – with simultaneous closure of all three inlets in the case of exceptional tides, by closing just one inlet at a time, or by partially closing each inlet—given that the gates are independent—for medium-high tides. MOSE Project Construction Construction of MOSE was authorised by the "Comitatone" on 3 April 2003 and the associated construction sites opened the same year.

Work began simultaneously and continues in parallel at the three inlets of Lido, Malamocco and Chioggia. Work on the structural parts (foundations, mobile barrier abutments, gate housing structures), associated structures (breakwaters, small craft harbours, locks) and parts for operating the system (technical buildings, plant) is now at an advanced stage.[citation needed] Currently about 4000 people are employed in the construction of MOSE. As well as the construction sites at the inlets, fabrication of the main components of MOSE (the hinges, the technological heart of the system which constrain the gates to their housing and allow them to move, and the gates) is also proceeding. Restructuring of the buildings and spaces in the area of the Venice Arsenal where maintenance of MOSE and management of the system will be located is also underway. Lagoon inlet construction sites Construction of MOSE at the inlets necessitates complex logistical organisation. These are located in a highly delicate environmental context so as to avoid interfering with the surrounding area as far as possible.

The sites have been set up on temporary areas of water in order to limit occupation of the land adjacent to the inlets and reduce as far as possible the effect on activities taking place there. Materials (for example, site supplies) and machines are also moved via sea to avoid overloading the road system along the coast. Since the sites opened, all work has been carried out without interrupting transit through the inlet channels. Below is a description of the work underway and already completed at each inlet. Lido inlet There will be two rows of gates at the Lido inlet (21 mobile gates for the North barrier Lido-Treporti and 20 mobile gates for the South barrier Lido-San Nicolò). To the north of the inlet (Treporti), a small craft harbour consisting of two basins communicating through a lock, will allow small craft and emergency vessels to shelter and transit when the gates are raised. The sea-side basin was temporarily drained and sealed for use as the site to construct the gate housing structures for this barrier. Once the housing structures had been completed, the area was flooded with water to allow the housing structures to be floated out.

The housing structures for the gates in the north barrier (seven housing structures and two for the abutment connections) were positioned on the seabed. Four of this barrier's gates were installed and manoeuvred for the first time in October 2013; at the end of 2014, the installation of 21 gates will be complete and operational for functional testing purposes (the so-called "blank tests"). At the south of the inlet (San Nicolò), the launch and the positioning of seven housing structures and two for the abutment connections has been completed (the structures have been fabricated on a temporary raised area in the Malamocco inlet and will be taken out to sea by a giant mobile platform which functions as a giant elevator). At the centre of the inlet, a new island has been constructed to act as an intermediate structure between the two rows of mobile gates. This island will accommodate the buildings and plant for operating the gates (construction underway).

Outside the inlet, a 1,000-metre (3,300 ft) long curved breakwater is almost complete.[when?] MOSE Project Mose in the Venice Arsenal Since 2011, the Mose control center and management functions for the lagoon system have been located in the Venice Arsenal, symbol of the former trading and military might of the historic Serenissima or "Serene Republic". Numerous historical buildings, in a state of decay and abandonment for decades, have already been restored and reorganisation of the area is underway to accommodate these new activities. Restoration has enabled a heritage of extraordinary historical and architectural value to be safeguarded and allowed buildings to be recovered and re-utilised. As home to MOSE management and control the arsenal will receive a new lease of life after years of abandonment, allowing its renaissance as a place of innovation and production, with important economic repercussions for the city and local area. The historic arsenal buildings before and after restoration and construction of infrastructure to accommodate the new functions are shown below.

In the control centre, key decisions will be taken on raising and lowering the mobile barriers according to measurements made tide gauges positioned in front of the lagoon inlets to record the rising tide in real time. The command to raise the gate will be given when water reaches the level established by the procedure to begin the manoeuvre and guarantee that the water level in the lagoon does not exceed the requisite safe level.

Four mobile barriers are under construction at the lagoon inlets (two at the Lido inlet, one at Malamocco and one at Chioggia) The project utilises 1.6 kilometres (0.99 mi) of mobile barriers There are 18 kilometres (11 mi) of linear worksites on land and at sea MOSE has a total of 78 gates The smallest gate is 18.5 by 20 by 3.6 metres (61 ft × 66 ft × 12 ft) (Lido–Treporti row) The largest gate is 29.5 by 20 by 4.5 metres (97 ft × 66 ft × 15 ft) (Malamocco row) One lock for large shipping at the Malamocco inlet enables port activities to continue when the gates are in operation Three small locks (two at Chioggia and one at Lido-Treporti) allow the transit of fishing boats and other smaller vessels when the gates are in operation There are 156 hinges, two for each gate and a number of reserve elements Each hinge weighs 42 tons The gates can withstand a 3-metre (9

.8 ft) maximum tide (to date, the highest tide has been 1.94 metres (6 ft 4 in)) Mose has been designed to cope with a 60 centimetres (24 in) rise in sea level 30 minutes is required to raise the gates 15 minutes is required to lower the gates back into their housing structures During a tidal event, the inlet will remain closed for 4/5 hours, including barrier raising and lowering times The site currently employs 4,000 people directly or indirectly MOSE Project Controversies The project has met resistance from environmental and conservation groups such as Italia Nostra, and the World Wide Fund for Nature, who have made negative comments about the project.

Criticisms of the MOSE project, which environmentalists and certain political forces have opposed since its inception, relate to the costs to the Italian State of construction, management, and maintenance, which are said to be much higher than those for alternative systems employed by the Netherlands and England to resolve similar problems. In addition, according to the project's opponents, the monolithic integrated system is not "gradual, experimental and reversible" as required by the Special Law for the Safeguarding of Venice. There have also been criticisms of the environmental impact of the barriers, not just at the inlets where complex leveling will be carried out (the seabed must be flat at the barrier installation sites) and the lagoon bed reinforced to accommodate the gates (which will rest on thousands of concrete piles driven deep underground), but also on the hydrogeological balance and delicate ecosystem of the lagoon. The NO MOSE front also emphasises what could be a number of critical points in the structure of the system and its inability to cope with predicted rises in sea level. Over the years, nine appeals have been presented, eight of which have been rejected by the TAR (Tribunale Amministrativo Regionale, regional administrative court) and the Council of State.

The ninth, currently under evaluation by the Administrative Tribunal, was presented by the Venice Local Authority and contests the favourable opinion of the Safeguard Venice Commission on the commencement of work at the Pellestrina site in the Malamocco inlet. Here, part of the MOSE gate housing caissons will be made using processes which, according to the local authority, could damage a site of special natural interest. Environmental associations have also requested the intervention of the European Union, as project activities affect sites protected by the Nature 2000 Network and the European Directive on birds. Following a report of 5 March 2004 by the Venetian MP Luana Zanella, on 19 December 2005 the European Commission opened an infraction procedure against Italy for "pollution of the habitat" of the lagoon.

The European Environmental Commission Directorate General considers that as it has "neither identified nor adopted—in relation to the impacts on the area 'IBA 064-Venice Lagoon' resulting from construction of the MOSE project—appropriate measures to prevent pollution and deterioration of the habitat, together with harmful disturbance of birds with significant consequences in the light of the objectives of article 4 of EEC Directive 79/409, the Italian Republic has not fulfilled its obligations under Article 4, Paragraph 4, of EEC Directive 79/409 of the Council of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds. Although the European Environmental Commission has said that the initiative is not intended to stop MOSE going ahead, the body has called on the Italian Government to produce new information on the impact of the sites and the environmental mitigation structures. The Water Authority and Consorzio Venezia Nuova both confirm that the construction sites are temporary and will be completely restored at the end of the work. In 2014, 35 people, including Giorgio Orsoni, the Mayor of Venice, were arrested in Italy on corruption charges in connection with the MOSE Project.

Orsoni was accused of receiving illicit funds from the Consorzio Venezia Nuova, the consortium behind the construction of the project, which he then used in his campaign to be elected mayor. There were allegations that 20 million euros in public funds had been sent to foreign bank accounts and used to finance political parties. Following the legal proceedings occurred between 2013 and 2014, that involved part of the management bodies of the Consorzio Venezia Nuova and its Companies, the State intervened in order to ensure the conclusion of the flood defense system: in December 2014, the ANAC (National Anti-Corruption Authority) proposes the extraordinary management of the Consorzio, which follows the appointment of three Special Chief Executive Officers. The Special Administration of the Consorzio pursues its task to guarantee the proper completion of Mose and to ensure the conclusion of the defense system on 2018. MOSE Project Alternative proposals Over the years, various proposals have been presented as an alternative to MOSE.

Some offer widely different technological solutions while others suggest technologies to improve the efficiency of the system of mobile gates.[citation needed] At the request of the Mayor of Venice, Massimo Cacciari, approximately ten of these projects were examined in 2006 by round tables of experts appointed by individual responsible bodies, including the Higher Council of Public Works. In November 2006, negative assessments of the alternative proposals by these round tables led the government to give definitive approval for the MOSE project with the alternative proposals deemed ineffective or inappropriate to guarantee the defence of Venice. MOSE Project Notes ^ The Consorzio Venezia Nuova is responsible for work to safeguard Venice and the lagoon delegated to the State on behalf of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport – Venice Water Authority, according to the provisions of the Special Law for Venice (Law no. 798 of 1984). Made up of a group of national and local construction companies, to carry out its task it has created a structure able to plan, organise and manage all phases of all activities. ^ The Water Authority is heir to the historic office of the Serenissima set up in 1501.

It is now the local organ of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport with direct primary responsibility for the safeguarding, safety and hydraulic protection of a large area including, in particular, the Venice lagoon. MOSE Project References ^ Page on the project at water-technology.net ^ Law no. 171/1973, indicating the objectives and criteria for the measures to be implemented in the lagoon and defining the institutional parties involved and their relative responsibilities: the State for physical safeguarding and environmental restoration of the lagoon basin; the Veneto Region for water pollution abatement and the local Authorities of Venice and Chioggia for economic and social development, restoration and conservative improvement of urban structures ^ Portanova, Maria (2015-06-06). "Mose, in dieci anni 1,3 miliardi di costi in più. E allarmi inascoltati" (in Italian). Il Fatto Quotidiano. Retrieved 2015-06-24. ^ Windsor, Antonia (2015-06-16). "Inside Venice's bid to hold back the tide". The Guardian.

Retrieved 2015-06-24. ^ Venice: duels over troubled waters ^ Mayor of Venice arrested on lagoon barrier project corruption charges ^ Venice Mayor Orsoni held in Italy corruption inquiry, BBC. 4 June 2014. Last updated at 10:02 GMT. Keahey, John (2002). Venice against the sea: a city besieged (1. ed.). New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN978-0-312-26594-6. MOSE Project Aims to Part Venice Floods : NPR MOSE Project Aims to Part Venice Floods Embed Embed MOSE Project Aims to Part Venice Floods MOSE Project Aims to Part Venice Floods Embed Embed When tides rise and flood Venice, walkways keep feet dry. Here, Venetians navigate St. Mark's Basilica. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR hide caption toggle caption Sylvia Poggioli, NPR When tides rise and flood Venice, walkways keep feet dry. Here, Venetians navigate St. Mark's Basilica.

Sylvia Poggioli, NPR Enlarge this image Work is under way on one of the 78 giant gates to protect Venice from flooding. Rising sea levels due to climate change are causing more frequent floods in the city. Here, a mobile sea barrier is being constructed at the Malamocco inlet on the Venice lagoon. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR hide caption toggle caption Sylvia Poggioli, NPR Work is under way on one of the 78 giant gates to protect Venice from flooding. Rising sea levels due to climate change are causing more frequent floods in the city. Here, a mobile sea barrier is being constructed at the Malamocco inlet on the Venice lagoon. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR On the central canal in Venice, people have cemented ground-floor windows to protect against the floods. Nobody lives on the ground floor in Venice anymore. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR hide caption toggle caption Sylvia Poggioli, NPR On the central canal in Venice, people have cemented ground-floor windows to protect against the floods. Nobody lives on the ground floor in Venice anymore. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR At St.

Mark's Basilica in Venice, floods force people to walk on risers to stay dry. Flooding is more frequent as climate change brings higher tides into the Venice lagoon. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR hide caption toggle caption Sylvia Poggioli, NPR At St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, floods force people to walk on risers to stay dry. Flooding is more frequent as climate change brings higher tides into the Venice lagoon. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR A key feature of the massive MOSE project to protect Venice from flooding is a navigation lock, shown here under construction at the Malamocco inlet. When completed, there will be 78 giant mobile floodgates that can be raised against high water. Boats wishing to gain entry into Venice will pass through this lock. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR hide caption toggle caption Sylvia Poggioli, NPR A boat ride in the Venice lagoon is a discovery of how humans and nature have created one the world's most extraordinary experiments. Starting in the 16th century, the Venetians diverted major rivers outside of the lagoon to prevent silt from filling it up.

Left alone, lagoons like the one in Venice either tend to dry up and become land or they are overwhelmed by the sea and turn into bays. The lagoon covers 212 square miles. Along with the city of Venice in the center, there are some 50 smaller islands, as well as dozens of mudflats and sandbanks — havens for thousands of aquatic birds that flock here even in winter. This delicate and fragile ecosystem is the largest wetland in the Mediterranean. If Venice is to be saved, the lagoon must be protected. But today, rising seas threaten the Venice lagoon. All along the Grand Canal, windows of buildings near sea level have been closed and filled with cement. "Those windows have been closed as they are too much exposed to the waters," says Francesca de Pol of Consorzio Venezia Nuova, the consortium entrusted with the task of safeguarding Venice. Article continues after sponsorship Moving Upstairs No Venetian lives on the ground floor any more. In the last century, the city sank 11 inches, mostly due to the pumping of groundwater and methane gas for local industries. But it has also being affected by rising sea levels.

What that means is that the same tides that were not flooding the city 100 years ago are now high-tide events. It's called acqua alta. High water afflicts Venice mostly in the winter. A century ago it happened seven times a year, now it's more like a hundred. The visionaries who first began building Venice 1,300 years ago used materials for the foundations that could withstand water. But with the seabed sinking, brick walls on the ground floors are being corroded and waterlogged buildings are crumbling. Sophisticated technology is now being used to rescue the lagoon. MOSE, the acronym in Italian for experimental electromechanic module, is the biggest public works project in Italian history. MOSE is also the Italian word for Moses, recalling the biblical parting of the Red Sea. The project is building 78 floodgates at the three inlets that link the Venice lagoon to the Adriatic Sea. Del Pol says one of the gates' characteristics is their flexibility. Depending on the type of tides, there are differing ways to manage the gates. "You are not obliged to close the whole lagoon," she says. "You can close one inlet and not the other.

"In case of wind coming from a certain direction, you can chose not closing the whole system but only parts of the gates for certain types of tides. "So you continue to have an exchange of water, not totally blocked." Giant Gates Filled with Air At the Malamocco inlet, the walls of the MOSE project are being built just like the original walls in Venice. But workers are driving 125-foot-long steel and concrete pilings into the lagoon bed, instead of wooden pilings. When the giant doors are at rest, they will be lying on the bottom of the inlet channel, invisible to the world. Each gate will be up to 92 feet long, 65 feet wide, and will weigh 300 tons. When a dangerous tide is forecast, compressed air will be released inside the gates, emptying the gates of water. They will then rise and block the entrance of the tide. In another effort not to alter the landscape, the worksite is on a specially built artificial island that will be demolished once the project is completed. Protests Fail to Slow Construction A debate over the floodgates has been under way for nearly four decades.

The design was finally approved by the Italian government in 2003. Costs now stand at $7 billion. Claudio Mantovan, supervisor at the Malamocco worksite, says the project is on schedule. Some 37 percent of the work has been completed, and MOSE should open as planned in 2012. One key element already finished is a navigation lock to allow large ships to enter the lagoon when the gates are up. Mantovan says a few days of work have been lost due to peaceful protests by environmentalists and others. "In order to build trenches for the MOSE gates, they are going to dig up millions of cubic meters of seabed and replace it with cement, which could seriously alter the ecosystem," says Alberto Vitucci, a journalist who has been covering the project for years. "The entire mechanism will be underwater, making maintenance extremely difficult and costly. And the authorities never took any alternative projects into serious consideration." Other proposals to control flooding in Venice have included narrowing the inlet channels to reduce the water flow from the sea into the lagoon, and banning tankers and large ships from entering. Some criticize the project as irreversible and outdated.

They say it was designed without taking into account predictions on rising sea levels over the next century. MOSE engineers respond that the mobile gates are designed to last at least a century and to protect Venice from a difference in water level between the sea and lagoon of up to six and half feet. The latest prediction of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is for a one- or two-foot increase by the end of this century. Despite opposition, the MOSE project is moving ahead, and it's being closely watched not only by Venetians. Coastal cities all over the world, from New Orleans to Singapore to Bombay, know that due to rising sea levels, Venice's seasonal flooding could soon become a shared, global phenomenon. mose project : definition of mose project and synonyms of mose project (English) This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (January 2012) This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. You can assist by editing it . (May 2012) Parts of this article (those related to article) are outdated.

Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (May 2012) Aerial view of the MOSE Project north of Lido The MOSE (MOdulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico, Experimental Electromechanical Module) is a project intended to protect the city of Venice , Italy from floods. The project is an integrated defense system consisting of rows of mobile gates able to isolate the Venetian Lagoon from the Adriatic Sea when the tide reaches above an established level (110 cm) and up to a maximum of 3 m (9.8 ft). Together with other complementary measures such as coastal reinforcement, the raising of quaysides and paving and improvement of the lagoon environment, these barriers will protect the city of Venice from extreme events such as floods and from morphological degradation. Work on the project has been under way since 2003 at the three lagoon inlets of Lido , Malamocco and Chioggia , the gaps connecting the lagoon with the sea and through which the tide ebbs and flows.

The project is being executed by engineers at FIAT .[ citation needed ] In 2006, the incoming government of Romano Prodi announced that the project was "under review" for budgetary reasons. [1] However, the project was reinstated the following year. Contents 14 Sources Origin of the name Before the acronym was used to describe the entire flood protection system, it indicated the 1:1 scale prototype of a gate tested between 1988 and 1992 at the Lido di Venezia inlet. The name MOSE is also a play on the Italian name for Moses , Mosè (who divided the waters of the Red Sea ). Context Map of the Venetian Lagoon MOSE is part of a General Plan of Interventions to safeguard Venice and the lagoon commenced in 1987 by the Ministry of Infrastructure through the Venice Water Authority (the Ministry's operational arm in the lagoon) and the concessionary, the Consorzio Venezia Nuova.

The measures already completed or underway along the coastline and in the lagoon are the most important environmental defense, restoration and improvement programme ever implemented by the Italian State.[ citation needed ] In parallel with work to construct MOSE, the Venice Water Authority and the Venice Local Authority are raising quaysides and paving in the city to protect built-up areas in the lagoon from medium high tides below 110 cm, the height at which the mobile barriers will come into operation. These measures are extremely complex, particularly in urban contexts such as Venice and Chioggia where the raising must take account of the delicate architectural and monumental context. The measures to improve the shallow lagoon environment are aimed at slowing down degradation of the morphological structures caused by subsidence, eustatism and erosion resulting from wave motion and wash. Work is being carried out throughout the lagoon basin to protect, reconstruct and renaturalise salt marshes, mudflats and shallows, restore the environment of the smaller islands and dredge lagoon canals and channels.

Important activities are also underway in the industrial area of Porto Marghera at the edge of the central lagoon to oppose pollution by securing islands formerly used as dumps, consolidating and sealing the industrial canals and removing polluted sediments. Aim The aim of the MOSE project is to solve the problem of high waters which has afflicted Venice and other towns and villages in the lagoon since ancient times in autumn, winter and spring. Although the tide in the lagoon basin is lower than in other areas of the world where it may reach as high as 20 m, the phenomenon may become significant if associated with atmospheric and meteorological factors such as pressure and the action of the bora (a north-easterly wind coming from Trieste ) or Sirocco (a hot south-easterly wind) which push the waves into the gulf of Venice. The phenomenon is also worsened by rain and freshwater flowing into the lagoon from the drainage basin at 36 inflow points represented by small rivers and canals.

The increase in the frequency and intensity of high waters is also associated with other natural and artificial causes which have altered the hydraulic and morphological structure of the lagoon, such as subsidence and eustatism (during the 20th century land in the lagoon dropped by 23 cm with respect to mean sea level[2]); the greater erosive action of the sea as a result of some of the measures taken by man to facilitate port activities ( jetties , artificial canals) and establishment of the industrial area of Porto Marghera and the increase in wash caused by motor vessels which helps erode morphological structures and the foundations of quaysides and buildings. As well as tackling these contingent problems, the MOSE Project (and the other defence measures) has also been designed to take into account the expected rise in sea level as a result of global warming . The mobile barriers can protect the lagoon effectively for sea level rise up to 60 cm.

Exceptional high waters have struck the city during the 20th century: the flood of November 1966 (194 cm), 1979 (166 cm), 1986 (158 cm), 1951 (151 cm), 1936 and 2002 (147 cm), 1960 (145 cm), 1968 and 2000 (144 cm), 1992 (142 cm), 1979 (140 cm). All values were recorded at the Punta della Salute (Venice) station and refer to the 1897 tidal datum point. Chronology The need to provide Venice and other built-up areas in the shallow lagoon with an effective sea defence system follows the devastating flood of 4 November 1966. That day, driven by a strong sirocco wind, the tide reached a height of 194 cm above the tidal datum, the highest ever recorded in the history of Venice. The tidal event began on the night of 3 November.

That morning, instead of withdrawing as it should have done under normal tidal ebb and flow conditions, the water continued to rise throughout the day of 4 November until it flooded the whole city. That evening the wind dropped and the water started to flow away. At the same time, a violent sea storm devastated the beaches and broke through the seawall protecting the coast in a number of points, obliging Pellestrina to be evacuated. After this, with the Special Law of 1973, the Italian State declared the problem of Venice to be of "priority national interest". In the early 1970s, the CNR promoted a first competition of ideas and subsequently the Ministry of Public Works issued a call for tender, in 1980 acquiring the projects presented. The 6 projects proposed were passed for evaluation to a commission of seven hydraulic engineers who were asked to draw up a feasibility study. Known as the "Progettone" and presented in 1981, the study proposed a combination of fixed barriers at the inlets and mobile defence structures. This triggered a long debate involving the institutions, the scientific, political and cultural world, the media and local inhabitants.

The strategies and criteria to be adopted for the safeguarding project were defined by the second Special Law on Venice in 1984. This set up a Committee for Policy, Coordination and Control (known as the "Comitatone", chaired by the Prime Minister and consisting of the relevant institutions at national and local level) and authorised the Ministry of Public Works to proceed with granting of a single concession to be agreed by private negotiation. The need, reiterated also in 1982 in a document from Venice Local Authority, was for speed, but above all to adopt a unitary and organic approach to the safeguarding measures given the complex and delicate context of the lagoon basin by entrusting the work to a single body with the right qualifications. Design and implementation of the measures for the physical safeguarding of the city were entrusted by the Water Authority to the Consorzio Venezia Nuova, a pool of about fifty companies set up in 1982.

After four years of surveys, studies and analyses of the numerous systems of mobile barriers, in 1989 the Consorzio Venezia Nuova presented a complex proposal of measures to safeguard Venice known as the REA Project (Riequilibrio E Ambiente, "Rebalancing and the Environment"). This included the Conceptual Design for the Mobile Barriers at the Lagoon Inlets, the birth of MOSE. After experiments on the prototype and a number of modifications, in 1994 the new preliminary design for the mobile barriers was approved by the Higher Council of Public Works . After also examining other flood defence projects, the body approved the MOSE system. In 1997, the Water Authority and Consorzio Venezia Nuova presented the environmental impact study (EIS) which in 1998 was given a positive assessment by a commission of five international experts appointed by the Prime Minister , Romano Prodi . In the same year, the design for mobile barriers was given a negative opinion by the Ministry of the Environment Environmental Assessment Commission. On the request of the Committee for Policy, Coordination and Control, MOSE was developed further.

In 2001, at the end of the Environmental Impact Assessment procedure, the Council of Ministers, chaired by the Prime Minister, Giuliano Amato , gave the go-ahead for development of the final design, defining a number of conditions. In 2002, the Consorzio Venezia Nuova presented the final design which took the requests of the Ministry of Transport and Port Authority on board, in other words, for curved breakwaters in front of the lagoon inlets and a lock for large shipping at the Malamocco inlet. In 2002, the CIPE (Interministerial Committee for Economic Programming) financed the first tranche of work on the MOSE system covering the three-year period 2002-2004, amounting to €453 million. In 2003, after approval by the Committee for Policy, Coordination and Control, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi officially opened the first MOSE work sites by laying the first stone.

By March 2008, 40% of the work underway in parallel at all three inlets had been completed and €2,443 million had been attributed out of a total cost for the MOSE system of €4,272 million. On 31 January 2008, the CIPE approved financing of the fifth tranche of €400 million and construction of the caissons, the most important and final part of the project, could begin. If funding continues to arrive regularly, the work is expected to be completed in 2012. Work sites and complementary structures Work on MOSE is proceeding in parallel at all three inlets where 700 people are currently employed. These will be joined by a further 700 when the sites to construct the caissons on which the gates will rest are opened.

Work to construct the mobile barriers was preceded by implementation of a series of measures to protect the coasts ( Jesolo , Cavallino , Lido , Pellestrina , Sottomarina and Isola Verde ) from the violence of sea storms, with widening and reconstruction of 45 km of beach , restoration of 8 km of dunes and reinforcement of 11 km of jetty and 20 km of the Istrian stone seawall (the " Murazzi ") which protects the most fragile parts of Venice's beaches. Outside the inlets of Malamocco and Chioggia , two "crescents" (curved breakwaters ) have also been constructed to attenuate the levels of tides and protect the locks. Operation of the gates MOSE section scheme MOSE consists of a system of retracting oscillating buoyancy flap gates which respects the indications given in 1982 by vote no. 209 of the Higher Council of Public Works [3], namely that the barriers must not modify water exchange between the sea and the lagoon to avoid damaging lagoon morphology and water quality, must not obstruct navigation, thus interfering with port activities and fishing, and must not alter the landscape .

In normal conditions, the gates, large metal box type structures 20 m wide, between 20 and 30 m long and about 5 m thick, are full of water and rest in prefabricated concrete caissons on the reinforced seabed. When a tide higher than 110 cm is forecast, the gates are emptied of water by introducing compressed air. They therefore rise, rotating around the axis of the hinges until they emerge from the water, temporarily isolating the lagoon from the sea and stopping the tidal flow. The gates reach in the raised position in about 30 minutes and will then take about 15 minutes to retract. The level of 110 cm above which the barriers will enter into operation has been agreed by the responsible bodies as the optimum level with respect to current sea level. However, the MOSE System is flexible enough to also be used for high waters below that level. According to the winds, pressure and level of the tide, the system can also be managed in different ways, with differentiated closure of the inlets or partial closure of each inlet.

A total of 78 gates divided into four rows will be installed to protect the three inlets: two rows of 21 and 20 gates at the Lido-San Nicolò inlet, the widest, connected by an artificial island ; one row of 19 gates at the Malamocco inlet and one row of 18 gates at the Chioggia inlet. To guarantee navigation while the mobile barriers are in operation, three locks are being constructed to allow the transit of vessels (large ships at Malamocco, pleasure, emergency and fishing boats at Lido and Chioggia). At the end of work, the consortium which has designed and constructed MOSE will be in charge of management and maintenance of the system for four years, then for a further 10 years it will be responsible for its operation and for all the other public works. Usage The project consists of a system of 78 mobile barriers designed to protect the three entrances to the Venetian Lagoon . The barriers will stay on the seabed until high tides and storms are forecast. They will then be floated, blocking the sea from the lagoon and effectively reducing high water levels.

Projections The MOSE project has a budget of € 4.7 billion and it is planned to be completed by 2014. As of January 2008 [update] , the project is reported as 63% complete and projected to open on schedule in 2014 [2] Controversy The project has met resistance from environmentalist and conservationist groups such as Italia Nostra . The World Wide Fund for Nature has commented negatively on the project. [3] The main criticisms of the MOSE project, opposed since the beginning by environmentalists and certain political forces, are related to the costs to the Italian State of construction, management and maintenance, said to be much higher than alternative systems which other countries (the Netherlands and England ) have employed to resolve similar problems. In addition, according to those opposing MOSE, the system with its monolithic integrated conception is not "gradual, experimental and reversible" in line with the criteria specified by the Special Law for the Safeguarding of Venice.

There have also been criticisms of the environmental impact of the barriers, not just at the inlets where complex levelling will be carried out (as the part of the seabed where the barriers will be installed must be flat) and the lagoon bed will be reinforced to accommodate the gates (which will rest on thousands of concrete piles driven into the bottom for metres underground), but also on the hydrogeological balance and delicate ecosystem of the lagoon. The NO MOSE front also emphasises what could be a number of critical points in the structure of the system and its ineffectiveness to cope with the forecast increase in sea level . Appeals During the years, nine appeals have been presented. Eight have been rejected by the TAR and the Council of State. The ninth, currently being examined by the Administrative Tribunal, was presented by Venice Local Authority and contests the favourable opinion of the Safeguard Venice Commission on the commencement of work in the Pellestrina site at the Malamocco inlet where part of the MOSE gate housing caissons will be made using processes which, according to the Local Authority, could damage a site of particular natural interest.

As regards the environmental damage caused by work currently underway, environmental associations have also requested the intervention of the European Union , as the activities affect sites protected by the Nature 2000 Network and by the European Directive on birds.

Following the report of 5 March 2004 by the Venetian MP Luana Zanella , on 19 December 2005 the European Commission opened an infraction procedure against Italy for "pollution of the habitat" of the lagoon, given that the European Environmental Commission Directorate General considers that as it has "neither identified nor adopted — in relation to the impacts on the area ‘IBA 064-Venice Lagoon’ resulting from construction of the MOSE project — appropriate measures to prevent pollution and deterioration of the habitat, together with harmful disturbance of birds with significant consequences in the light of the objectives of article 4 of EEC Directive 79/409, the Italian Republic has not fulfilled the obligations deriving from article 4, paragraph 4, of EEC Directive 79/409 of the Council of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds".[5] Specifying that the aim of the initiative is not to stop MOSE, the European Environmental Commission has called on the Italian Government to produce new information on the impact of the sites and the environmental mitigation structures.

The Water Authority and Consorzio Venezia Nuova confirm that the work sites are temporary and will be completely restored at the end of the work. Alternative proposals Over the years, various proposals have been presented as an alternative to MOSE. Some propose quite different technological systems, others suggest technologies to improve the efficiency of the system of mobile gates. On the request of the Mayor of Venice, Massimo Cacciari , some ten or so of these projects were examined in 2006 by various round tables of experts appointed by the individual responsible bodies, including the Higher Council of Public Works . In November 2006, the negative opinions expressed by the experts led the Government to give the definitive go-ahead for the MOSE project as the alternative proposals presented were found to be ineffective or inappropriate for guaranteeing the defence of Venice. Notes Maritime Journal | Progress on Venice flood barriers Progress on Venice flood barriers Progress on Venice flood barriers 07 Sep 2015 The 'Mose 1' is a large pontoon shaped vessel The challenge of protecting the ancient city of Venice from the sea has been a long saga. Increasing high tide levels within the sensitive Venice lagoon have seen many sections of the city flooded.

Work started on an ambitious project to enable the three inlets to the lagoon from the sea to be closed of by tidal barriers in the event of high tides and now the final stages of the project comprising the installation of the gates is being carried out. Each of the three barriers comprises a series of modular gates that, when filled with water, rest on the seafloor. When high tides are forecast these hinged gates will be raised by filling them with compressed air. In the 20th century, deep canals were dredged in the lagoon to allow big ships to reach the newly developed port and industrial petrochemical complex located at Marghera and more recently more dredging has allowed large cruise ships direct access to the island of Venice. It is thought that this dredging has been partially responsible for the increase in flooding rather than the fact that Venice is sinking It was the record flooding of 1966 triggered the need for a definitive response. The city authorities quickly recognised that only the complete separation of the lagoon from the sea at high tide could safeguard the city. Nevertheless, the actual building only began in 2003. The MOSE concept is highly innovative in many respects.

The four barriers being installed at the three lagoon inlets are made up of 78 independently operated gates of various sizes. Each gate lies horizontally on the seabed when not in use allowing shipping free access. When needed, the water inside is pumped out by compressed air and the gates rotate into position under their own buoyancy. The visual impact of such a solution is minimal, and the whole barrage can be closed in just 30 minutes. Once operational, the historic city will be protected from tides as high as 3m. All three passages into the lagoon have been strengthened with new concrete walls and embankments. At the Lido inlet a new artificial island has been created in the main channel, allowing two separate barriers to be built to close the opening. This new island will host all the service buildings that will be used to control the operation of the barriers. Three storm ports will be available for boats and ships that cannot access the lagoon when the barriers are closed and four locks have been built to allow the passage of vessels into the lagoon in similar circumstances so that the flow of traffic can be maintained.

Three of these locks at the north and south inlets have small dimensions whilst at the middle inlet the lock is big enough to allow sizeable ships into the lagoon. This will allow the cruise passenger port of Venice and the industrial port of Marghera to remain operational even when the MOSE barrier is closed. The old Arsenal, the former shipyard of the Republic of Venice in the centre of the city, is being restored and already hosts the main control centre. The barriers are not completely automated, unlike the Rotterdam surge barrier where control is delegated entirely to software. The MOSE barriers deployment has to be initiated by a human decision. The nominal working inclination of the gates when closed is 45°, and the active control system keeps them as close as possible to this position by adjusting the quantity of water inside to act as ballast. There is a gap of a few centimetres between each gate, which will only allow small amounts of water through and obviates the need for seals. Huge prefab concrete bases were embedded on the seafloor of each channel as a base for the hinged gates, which are coupled to their bases by 42-tonne hinges.

This was a necessary part of the project because, for the barriers to operate, the sea floor must be completely flat. Whilst much of the construction work on the supporting structures for this project such as the artificial island and the coast barriers had to take place in situ, the bases for the gate and the gates themselves were constructed at a yard developed in a section of the old Arsenale, the historic Venice naval base. Here, in addition to a production line system for the construction of the gates and their bases a harbour was built for the fleet of supporting craft required for this project. The primary support vessel was a specially designed crane vessel that was built to transport and install the units. The Mose 1 is a large pontoon shaped vessel that can be moored accurately in position with four spuds. There is a lattice fixed crane at either end allowing the gates and structure to be lowered through a large moonpool into position on the seabed. There is a total of 78 gates to be installed at all three entrances To protect the lock entrance located at the south side of the main inlet a 1000 metre long stone breakwater has been constructed outside the main entrance piers to the inlet.

This curved structure is matched by similar protective structures constructed at the other two inlets. During the construction work many of the main reinforced concrete elements of the structures were built in drained basins near the construction site. These were then flooded to allow the units to be floated out and positioned as required. In total the barriers cover 1.6 kilometres of inlet. Each gate in the main inlet is 29.5 metres by 20 metres and 4.5 metres thick. The whole project is estimated to cost €5.496 million which is a 25% rise from the original estimate and final completion of the project is scheduled for between 2018 and 2020. By Dag Pike Images for this article - click to enlarge Image copyright © Mercator Media 2017, or image used with permission of the copyright holder unless otherwise stated.

Venice’s Flood Barrier Passes First Public Test As Italian City Sees First Signs Of Winter Flooding [PHOTOS] Venice’s Flood Barrier Passes First Public Test As Italian City Sees First Signs Of Winter Flooding [PHOTOS] 10/13/13 AT 3:56 PM Close Officials carried out the first test of Venice’s flood barriers on Saturday, just days after the Italian city saw its first high tide of the winter season. Sky News Australia reported that dozens of officials, including Italian Transport Minister Maurizio Lupi, looked on as four enormous, steel floodgates rose from the water to create an artificial barrier. Each barrier weighs more than 40 tons. “This is a very important and emotional moment,” Venice Mayor Giorgio Orsoni told Agence France-Presse . “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.” Mobile barriers of the MOSE project are seen during a demonstration of the Venice flood-barrier system on Saturday. The floodgates are planned to protect the Venetian Lagoon from being submerged by the Adriatic Sea during winter flooding.

Photo: Reuters The mobile barriers of the Experimental Electromechanical Module, or MOSE, project are intended to keep Venice high and dry -- or, at least, dry. Photo: Reuters People walk in a flooded street during a period of seasonal high water in Venice in 2012. The water level in the canal city rose to 149 centimeters (59 inches) above normal, according to the local monitoring institute Center Weather Warnings and Tides. Flooding like this happens in Venice every year, and is getting worse. Photo: Reuters Previous Next The barrier project -- known formally as the Experimental Electromechanical Module project and informally as MOSE -- is designed to keep high tides of as much as 2.7 meters, or about 9 feet, from reaching the city, the Telegraph said. The idea is to have 78 have of these barriers block the three inlets to the Venetian Lagoon. The gates will span more than a mile and be positioned at the three entrances to the ancient city where the lagoon links to the Adriatic Sea.

During flooding, when the water reaches 1.1 meters, or about 3.6 feet, above normal levels, the locks will spring into action. Phys.org reported the Venice flood barriers will sit in immense tanks on the sea floor. Pressurized air will be pumped into the steel barriers, raising them up on hinges. The buoyancy makes them float, which will keep the floodwater at bay. The air can be deflated once the water has receded. “The benefit of the city is that no more floods will arrive and that all the ground floors of the city, which are usually washed out and destroyed by these tides, will be safe,” Hermes Redi, CEO of Consorzio Venezia Nuova, which is in charge of the project, told the Telegraph. Venice sits on a group of 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges. Located in the marshy Venetian Lagoon between the mouths of the Po and Piave Rivers, the centuries-old city is prone to flooding. Every year, the “acqua alta” brings high waters that spill into the streets and walkways of Venice.

It happens several times a year, and it has gotten worse over the past century, due in part to Venice sinking by 23 centimeters, or about 9 inches. The floodwater causes massive damage the city’s infrastructure, and puts many businesses and residents on lockdown until the water recedes. MOSE has already cost more than $7 billion and its completion is not expected for years, according to BBC News , which reported an additional $800 million is needed immediately to keep 4,000 construction workers on the job. And the project hasn’t been without its fair share of naysayers, either. Some claim the project is too expensive and that there’s no guarantee it’ll even work. Construction on the Venice flood-barrier project began in 2003. It was slated to start operating in 2014, but delays have pushed that date back to 2017.

Mayor of Venice arrested on lagoon barrier project corruption charges - Telegraph Italy Mayor of Venice arrested on lagoon barrier project corruption charges Giorgio Orsoni, Venice's mayor, and 35 others arrested or placed under investigation for allegedly siphoning off millions from ambitious “Moses” flood prevention project A file photograph, dated April 2010, of Venice's Mayor Giorgio Orsoni at Ca Farsetti palace in Venice Photo: Luigi Costantini/AP Follow The mayor of Venice was among 35 people arrested and accused of corruption in relation to a multi-million pound construction project to save the lagoon city from being inundated by high tides and storm surges. In the latest of a series of recent scandals to shake Italy ’s already tarnished political and business worlds, Giorgio Orsoni, who was elected mayor in 2010, was arrested while Giancarlo Galan, a former president of the Veneto region, was placed under investigation.

Mr Orsoni, from the centre-Left Democratic Party, was accused of having received illicit funds from the Consorzio Venezia Nuova, the consortium behind the construction of the project, which he then used in his campaign to be elected mayor. In a statement, he denied the allegations, saying they were “barely credible”. Mr Galan, an MP from the centre-Right Forza Italia party of Silvio Berlusconi and a former culture minister, was accused of having received 200,000 euros (£163,000) in return for fast-tracking the approval of contracts. He also denied the allegations. Related Articles Hiker has close encounter with bear on mountain pass 02 Jun 2014 The arrests were the result of a three-year investigation by the Guardia di Finanza, Italy’s tax police, into alleged bribery, kick-backs, extortion and money laundering. Those arrested, including businessmen and a retired police general, are suspected of embezzling at least 20 million euros (£16 million) destined for the Moses barrier and hiding the money in bank accounts abroad, including in the tiny independent republic of San Marino.

Giovanni Mazzacurati, the former head of the construction consortium, was described by prosecutors as the “mastermind” behind the alleged corruption. He and others are accused of creating a slush fund with which to bribe politicians, who then used the money for their electoral campaigns as well as for personal gain, said Carlo Nordio, a prosecutor in the case. The Moses project involves building 78 giant steel gates across the three inlets through which water from the Adriatic surges into Venice’s lagoon. The 300-tonne hinged panels will be fixed to massive concrete bases dug into the sea bed and will be raised whenever a dangerously high tide is predicted. Movable underwater panels emerge from the lagoon during the first official test, in October 2013, of Venice movable barriers designed to prevent severe flooding in Venice, Italy (Luigi Costantini/AP) The ambitious scheme is designed to solve the centuries-old problem of how to save Venice from slipping beneath the waves, at a time when the high tides that regularly swamp the city have been exacerbated by rising sea levels and more unpredictable weather related to global warming.

But it has been dogged by long delays, concerns about the impact on Venice’s fragile lagoon ecosystem and cost overruns. Inaugurated in 2003 by Silvio Berlusconi, the then-prime minister, it was due to be completed by 2012 but is now expected to be operational in 2016. It has so far cost more than five billion euros. Moses - ‘Mose’ in Italian - is both an allusion to the Old Testament story of how Moses parted the waves of the Red Sea during the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt and a neat acronym for the project’s name, Modulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico. In July last year, police carried out dawn raids around the country on businesses involved in the Moses project. More than 500 officers raided 140 offices from Venice to Tuscany and Rome, as part of a probe into the alleged rigging of contracts. Italy has been hit by a series of corporate and political scandals recently, the most high-profile involving allegations of corruption in the awarding of contracts for work on Expo 2015, a world fair to be held in Milan next year.

Question: Where is the Mose Project, construction work on which began in 2003, being carried out?
Answer: Venice, Italy