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s one of the most important civil engineering projects face. The Mo.S.E. option instead is hidden on the seabed sur- in recent history, the story of the Venetian Mo.S.E face and their movement is managed by the injection of com-

A? ood barrier has been one of innovation and modern- pressed air or salt-water,” said Mascheroni. ization. Now, in the ? nal stages of the $6 billion venture which The 20-m-wide gates are between 18.5 – 29.5 m in length seeks to save the historic ? oating city, the ‘nervous system’ and consist of hollow, hinged metal boxes that are ? xed to of the project is due to be installed linking the architecture large prefabricated 23,000-ton concrete bases embedded into to an intelligent control network. This $38 million order will the sea ? oor. When the control room is alerted to high tides or provide automation and power, connecting 78 independently storm surges, the water inside the barriers is pumped out with operated steel gates with signals from more than 50,000 de- compressed air, and the gates lift into position aided by their vices. The ABB Symphony Plus automation platform will be own buoyancy. In just 30 minutes, the entire barrier system the ‘brain’ of the entire Mo.S.E system, navigating the safe can be risen, isolating the lagoon and protecting Venice from operation of the project’s barrier gates and providing the an- tides as high as 3 meters. ti-intruder and cyber security systems required in this era of The ? exible design allows operators to completely close all digitalized ? ood protection. inlets simultaneously, or vary the level of closure at each site independently depending on winds, atmospheric pressure and

EUROPE’S MOST ENDANGERED CITY tide level.

Venice is an amazing engineering endeavor: it has been built There are a variety of critical requirements which will be on a group of more than 100 little islands as part of a lagoon. compulsory for the success of the entire defense. From a

This large, enclosed bay is protected by 50 km of sandbank structural point of view, the barriers should not interfere with and connected to the sea by three inlets giving passage to the normal maritime traf? c ? ow and host infrastructure to safe- city’s maritime traf? c, as well as the normal 1-meter tides that guard the area, which demands also vigorous safety from a ? ush the city’s canals. system point of view through a sophisticated anti-intruder and

Earlier this year, the heritage NGO alliance Europa Nostra and the European Investment Bank Institute (EIBI) declared

Venice as the most endangered heritage site in Europe. While dwtekmarine.com the lagoon is subject to variations in water levels, extreme spring tides are more regularly surging through the city ? ood- ing homes, businesses and buildings. Unesco will present a report on the status of Venice to the World Heritage Commit- tee, which will follow with recommendations in July this year.

“A range of factors have made the lagoon vulnerable to high water surging through the inlets from the Adriatic Sea.

This includes erosion caused by port development, subsiding land and rising sea levels, periodic wind conditions that push waves into the lagoon, as well as the surrounding drainage ba- sin that empties rain and water into the lagoon,” said Stefania

Mascheroni, ABB. “As a result of global warming, sea levels are expected to rise about 20 cm by 2050. This puts the city of

Venice at huge risk to be inundated nearly once a week with tides starting from 80 cm above normal.”

SOLUTION: MO.S.E.

The Mo.S.E. (Italian acronym for Modulo Sperimentale

Elettromeccanico) ? ood barrier system is designed to block the annual high tides and storm surges that enter the Venetian

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region. Led by the construction consortium Consorzio Vene- zia Nuova, the installation of 78 independently operated steel gates across the three inlets should shield the lagoon from both major and minor ? oods. “The Mo.S.E. concept is unique: nowhere else in the world,

Depth rating Thruster Payload where the same issue of high waters occurs, a system of bar- 627500 riers like the one in Venice has been implemented. Usually, opt. 1000 barriers remain visible as infrastructures above the sea sur- www.marinetechnologynews.com

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