The Venice Tide Barrier System - MOSE Project

Introduction:

The city Venice located on the east coast of Italy, is a world-famous tourist spot. It was hit by several floods and massive waves from the Adriatic Sea in the past few decades. Many experts claim that the water level in the sea is rising day by day. In 1966, it became a significant concern as the tides rose to an enormous height of more than 7 feet above the seawater level. This project consists of 78 gigantic steel panels across the three inlets that allow water to surge from the Adriatic Sea into the Venice lagoon.

The MOSE System:

The Venice city lagoon has three main water inlets at Malamocco, Chioggia, and Lido. To protect the city from flooding, the government planned to temporarily close these three water inlets. In 2003, the approval for MOSE, an Italian acronym for Experimental Electromechanical Module, was passed to construct an artificial barrier that would protect the city from any future floods. Its fundamental idea was to engage a series of oscillating inflatable flood gates strategically positioned at the bed floor of the inlets of the three main water lagoons. The platform on which the inflatable flood gates will rest would also support towers that accommodate the control system of the gates.

How does it work?

When the metrological department forecasts the emergence of high tides in the Adriatic Ocean, the control system activates the MOSE. The project's main elements are the 78 enormous underwater gates placed between the Adriatic Sea and the Venetian lagoon. The flood gates at normal condition lie below the water level, completely submerged. When the tides appear, the control system fills compressed air into the inflatable gates. Due to the principle of buoyancy, the flood gates would come above the water and block the flow of the incoming wave.

Construction process:

Each gate is around 92 feet long, 65 feet in width and up to 16 feet thick. The heaviest of these gates weighs about 350 tons, and that is as much as a Boeing 747 airliner. They are supported by around 125 feet long steel and concrete pilings that measure about 500mm in diameter and 20m in length. Flood gates are hallowed at the bottom to allow the inflow of compressed air. The hinges form the technological heart of the sea defence system. There are 156 hinges, two for each gate and several reserve elements. They constrain the gates to the housing structures, allow them to move and connect the gates to the operating plant. After the tidal threat is neutralized, the compressed air is pumped out, and water is pumped in. As a result of which those flood gates will again sink to the bottom of the sea bed. 
         


WRITTEN BY : Satyajeet Swain

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tackling the storm

Image
CYCLONE RESISTANT BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Cyclones have been an inescapable situation in India, especially in the eastern states of Odisha, West Bengal, and Andhra Pradesh. This calls for the construction of cyclone-resistant buildings in cyclone-prone areas to avoid loss of life and property. Low-lying coast areas, river floodplains, and sea-shore areas are highly vulnerable to cyclones. Certain settlement pattern even causes "funnel effect" which results in greater damage. While it's a common belief that heavier buildings are safer, in reality, a well built and engineered house provides better safety. Minimum standards for the design, construction, and performance of buildings to withstand extreme climate-related natural hazard events depending upon their locations should be set. We know cyclones are beyond human control but measures can be taken to reduce the loss of lives like evacuating people to safe areas, quick recovery of important fa...
Read more

Central Vista Project: Transforming the Political Face of India, the Civil Way

Image
    Source: Wikipedia     Central Vista Redevelopment Project  refers to the ongoing  redevelopment  to revamp the Central Vista, India's central administrative area located near  Raisina  Hill, New Delhi . The area houses India's government and parliamentary offices and has  been  described as the "power corridor" of the country. The project seeks to improve infrastructure for the Government of India, including retrofitting and refurbishing some heritage buildings to make them functional and safe.        Source: The Hindu   The Central Vista Redevelopment Project was launched in 2019 .   The project includes converting North and South Blocks into public museums while creating an ensemble of new secretariat buildings to house all ministries, relocating the Vice President and the Prime Minister's offices  and residences near the North and South Blocks, and revamping the 3 km (1.9 mi) long  Rajpath  between  Rashtrapati...
Read more

Demolition of Building Structures

Image
Demolition of a building is the process of dismantling or destroying a structure after its life of serviceability by pre-planned and controlled methods. It is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down buildings and other artificial structures . The tallest planned demolition of a building was the 47-storey Singer Building in New York City , built-in 1908 and torn down in 1967–1968 to be replaced by One Liberty Plaza Building Demolition methods: There are two types of demolition methods used for buildings and structures, Non-explosive demolition and Explosive demolition. In the non-explosive method, demolition of a structure is done with some equipment, without the use of any explosive. In contrast, in the explosive method, demolition is done with the help of bombs and explosives. Building Demolition Process: Different steps are involved in the process of demolition of building structures. They are: 1. Surveying 2. Removal of hazardous materials 3...
Read more