Message #58240

[Bianca]

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








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.