Mose flood prevention project

Mose is a project designed to protect the city of Venice and surrounding lagoon from flooding. The project consists of a system of underwater ‘gates’ that, in ultra-high tides, would temporarily be able to close off the Venetian Lagoon from the Adriatic sea. The ‘gates’ are installed at the Lido, Malamocco and Chioggia inlets.

Each of the inlets can be closed and opened separately, allowing authorities to respond flexibly to the conditions.

Work on the €5.3bn “Mose” flood prevention project began in 2003 and is expected to be fully completed by 2022.

63 gargantuan steel gates will protect the sinking city of Venice from rising sea levels

Each steel ‘gate’ is 5m thick x 30m long x 20m high, and weigh in at 300 tonnes. They were fabricated in Croatian shipyard, Brodosplit.

The gates are hollow, and the system works by filling them with air to raise them or water to lower them. When they descend, they are protected by rubber fenders. They have a design life of 100 years.

Purple Water and DSB Offshore Ltd

The ‘gates’ were transported across the Adriatic by tug and barge and towed into position in Venice. The tug, ‘Garibaldo’ (38 x 11m; 78tbp) and barge ‘Archimedes’ (91 x 27 x 6m) were provided by Purple Water and brokered by London shipbrokers, DSB Offshore Ltd.

Purple Water and DSB Offshore were involved in the 2016 and 2017 seasons of this project, transporting 4 pieces of the ‘Mose gates’ over 2 years.

Mose is short for modulo sperimentale elettromeccanico, or experimental electromechanical module.

 

Photo source: Global Construction Review