Flood-prone Venice, Italy, has launched an ambitious plan to build mobile barriers at the mouth of its lagoon and protect the city from rising sea levels.
About 3,000 people are involved in the “Moses” project, which will cost 5.4 billion euros (US$7.9 billion) and is scheduled for completion in 2014.
“Once finished, the system will protect Venice from high water levels of up to 3m,” said architect Flavia Faccioli from the Venezia Nuova consortium, grouping about 50 companies involved in the project.
“We’re on schedule so far. We have already carried out 3 billion euros worth of works and will be carrying out the first test next July,” Faccioli said.
The 78 giant box-shaped -barriers will be divided into four sections at the head of the three inlets that link the lagoon with the Adriatic Sea.
They will be inserted into immense tanks on the sea floor. Should high waters threaten the city, pressured air will be pumped into the barriers, raising them up on hinges to block the tidal flow.
Once the danger has passed, the air will be expelled and the barriers would fill with water and sink back to the sea floor.
“We are building 11 crates at the same time,” Enrico Pellegrini, the head engineer at one of the building sites, told reporters as they inspected the ongoing works at the Malamocco inlet.
Special cement and non--oxidizing steel have been used for the 60m wide girders which, at 27m high, are as tall as a seven-story building.
“The biggest girders weigh 22,000 tons [20,000 tonnes] and will be transported, like the others, by wagons specially designed for the purpose by Norwegian company. Each can take up to 350 tons, the equivalent of a Boeing 747,” he said.
It will then take up to three days for a “syncrolift” system — usually used to help ships dock — to transfer the tanks to the sea bed.
“It’s a remarkable project, one of the most important in Italy and the world,” Venice Mayor Giovanni Orsoni said.
Venice, which sank by 23cm in the past century, is hoping that the Moses project will help it preserve its buildings and rid its majestic squares of flood waters once and for all.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was