HW2

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Dec 6, 2023

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Luisa Bricker 1 A short report on “The Venice Tide Barrier Project” What are the Venice Sea Gates? The Venice Sea Gates (also commonly referred to as MOSE) are a collection of steel dam gates intended to protect Venice from flooding tides (Chandler 2014). Venice is a collection of 118 islands located in the middle of the Venetian lagoon (or a smaller body of water that is separated from the sea by a natural barrier (“What is a lagoon?” 2020)) and is often facing flooding of more than 3 meters above sea level due to rising seas and erratic weather (Harlan 2019). MOSE is a collection of 80 massive, hollow, steel gates (each 66 feet wide) located at the three inlets (the Lido, Malamocco, and Chioggia) which separate the Venetian lagoon from the surrounding sea. Attached at the bottom of the seafloor by a hinge, the gates are raised or lower based on the expected tide height. Intended to remain at its lowered position for most of the time, the gates are filled with water and sit flush to the seafloor, allowing it to be unnoticeable and for boats to enter and exit the port. When the tide reaches 43 inches, compressed air pushes the water out of the gates, allowing it to open on its hinge and float up from its original placement until it is almost perpendicular to the seafloor. The top of the gate sits above the water level to prevent water from entering the lagoon (Chandler 2014). Brief History of the Project In 1966 intense flooding in Venice resulted in widespread damage that led to an Italian national focus on flooding prevention the following year (Chandler 2014). While MOSE was initially prototyped in the 1980s, the project was not officially approved until 2001 due to challenges with the Environmental Impact Assessment, which determined that the initial design of the project was not compatible with the environment (lo Storto 2015). Launched with an expected completion date in 2012, it was anticipated that MOSE would cost between of $2 and $3 billion (Chandler 2014). In 2013, there were implications that the project company had major corruption and tax offenses, resulting in the finding of a large-scale criminal conspiracy aimed at diverting public funds away from the project. In 2014 it was made public

Luisa Bricker 2 that the funds were used to bribe politicians, further delaying the project (lo Storto 2015). In 2020, the project was first tested, and all 78 of the barriers were activated and successfully raised (D’Emilio 2020). Arguments in Favor of the Sea Gates With tides rapidly getting taller currently at a rate of 3 mm per year, many people believe that MOSE is the only option for saving the city from permanently flooding (Chandler 2014). Even if MOSE only works for a few decades, many argue that as it is currently the only proposed and active solution, it will be worthwhile given the damage Venice faces every time it floods. It is a workable solution that can be implemented before the damage gets too severe and will allow time for a long-term solution to be designed, as the city would not be regularly flooded. It is designed to be unnoticeable and out of the way, and when not in use it allows for boats to utilize the port without interfering with the gates (Harlan 2019). Arguments Against the Sea Gates Controversy and Cost MOSE was proposed by a group of 50 companies, Consorzio Venezia Nuova or the CVN who intended to build the project, and thus profit from such a costly project. There are other successful countries, such as the Netherlands and England, who are faced with similar flooding challenges that are utilizing cheaper and more simple solutions, so to the Italian citizens, it appeared that the company was making the project more complicated than necessary to profit more. It was initially projected to cost $2 billion, which already appeared to be super costly, but now it is expected to cost as much as $6.4 billion. The corruption controversy resulted in the dismissal of many political and project managers, and add to further delay in the project, and additionally led to further distrust against the success of the project (Chandler 2014). Environmental Arguments Environmentalists offer concerns regarding the process of impeding the water flow when the gates were in use potentially altering the ecosystem and the sediment flow. In addition, the Venice sewer system

Luisa Bricker 3 dumps much of its wastewater into the lagoon and depends on the natural flow of the tides to flush the waste. With the stagnant nature of the lagoon that will occur once the gates are up, the water in the lagoon will become heavily polluted, and will become a stagnant pool of algae and waste. Additionally, there are concerns regarding how long the gates will be operational, as they were originally designed with the sea level rise modeled in the 1980s, and with the current trajectory of sea-level rise, in a few decades the gates may not be tall enough to handle the tide sizes (Harlan 2019). What Happened in 2019? In November 2019, Venice suffered its worst flood in more than 50 years due to an Aqua Alta event, which is classified by high tides of more than 32 inches above mean sea level. The flood surged at 6.5 feet and left more than 70% of the city underwater (“Venice hit by another ferocious..” 2019). Floodwaters engulfed St. Mark’s Basilica, which is located at the lowest point in the city. Although the Acqua Alta events are a recurring phenomenon in Venice in November and the winter months and often happen as many as twice per year, in 2019 these events occurred 5 times (Momigliano 2019). The flood in the early November caused over 1 billion euros in damage, however, arguably could have been reduced or even prevented if the flood barriers had been in place. The barriers were designed to protect from tides as high as 10 feet, while the flood surge in November 2019 peaked at 6.5 feet high (D’Emilio 2020). Personal Opinion I initially thought the design was unique and creative, and mechanically it was very fascinating. However, once I explored the challenges regarding CVN controversy as well as the drawn-out timeline, I understood why many were frustrated by the lack of progress. However, the project is complicated and functionally there are a lot of components that go into the system, so it is somewhat understood why MOSE somewhat did not follow the expected timeline, outside of the political controversy. I believe that had the project been completed closer to the expected end date, the project would have been viewed as more successful.

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Luisa Bricker 4 References Chandler, N. (2014). "How the Venice Tide Barrier Project Works". HowStuffWorks , <https://science.howstuffworks.com/engineering/civil/how-the-venice-tide-barrier-project- works.htm> (Sep. 6, 2020). D'Emilio, F. (2020). "Flood-weary Venice puts ‘Moses’ inflatable barriers to test". Washington Post , <https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/flood-weary-venice-puts-moses-inflatable- barriers-to-test/2020/07/10/071e2076-c29a-11ea-8908-68a2b9eae9e0_story.html> (Sep. 6, 2020). Harlan, C. (2019). "How Venice’s plan to protect itself from flooding became a disaster in itself". Washington Post , <https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/how-venices-plan-to- protect-itself-from-flooding-became-a-disaster-in-itself/2019/11/19/7e1fe494-09a8-11ea-8054- 289aef6e38a3_story.html> (Sep. 6, 2020). lo Storto, C. (2015). The MOSE project . 16-23. Momigliano, A. (2019). "The Flooding of Venice: What Tourists Need to Know". Nytimes.com , <https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/20/travel/venice-flooding.html> (Sep. 6, 2020). "Venice hit by another ferocious high tide, flooding city." (2019). CNBC , <https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/15/venice-hit-by-another-ferocious-high-tide-flooding- city.html#:~:text=Mark's%20Square%2C%20by%20St.,highest%20tide%20in %2050%20years.&text=Venice%20was%20inundated%20by%20exceptionally,in%20more %20than%2050%20years.> (Sep. 6, 2020). "What is a lagoon?." (2020). Oceanservice.noaa.gov , <https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/lagoon.html> (Sep. 6, 2020).

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