Third time of the Mose, and for the third time Piazza San Marco dry despite thehigh tide. This October was the testing ground for the Mose, the system of mobile gates to defend Venezia from high water. After five movement tests (the first last 10 July, in very favorable weather conditions), three times - for now - in this month the 78 mobile gates, which when raised completely isolate the Venice lagoon from the Adriatic Sea, have raised to defend the city in a situation considered to be an emergency. So today, with a tide forecast between 125 and 130 centimeters. But also on 3 and 15 October, with forecasts of over 130 and 135 centimeters respectively.

Mose - command center

The technicians had no doubts - they tell the Consorzio Venezia Nuova - everything went according to forecasts. On 3 October, the day of the first emergency, the Mose made it possible to maintain a tide level of around 70 centimeters in the lagoon, while at sea the level reached the threshold of 128 centimeters. To get an idea of ​​what this means, there was no water even in Piazza San Marco, one of the lowest areas of the city.

In one hour, all 78 gates of the Mose were raised

Yesterday morning the forecast was 135 centimeters. The Mose was operated starting at 7.07 am and at 8.10 am the gates, already all raised, closed the three inlets of the Lido, of Malamocco and of Chioggia. This intervention stopped a high tide which, in the sea, reached peaks of 140 centimeters.

Mose gates raised

In Venice, the water level remained at around 60-65 centimeters. So, the whole city dry. Also this time, as already on 3 October, the masegni that form the pavement of Piazza San Marco were only wet from the rain. In Chioggia, due to the strong Bora wind, the city reached 80-85 centimeters. Around 13.15pm the gates yesterday lowered again. First at the mouth of the port of Chioggia, then at those of Malamocco and Lido.

The work will definitely be ready next year

Behind all these numbers and tide levels is the Mose, the Electromechanical Experimental Module whose work began about forty years ago and which, amidst controversies that never died down and judicial inquiries, should be definitively ready by the end of 2021. Some compressors are still missing, a series of details related to the systems are not completely completed, the staff of the teams responsible for the movements of this unique and so sophisticated engineering work must be definitively organized and defined.

Mose - control room screens

For each lifting operation of the gates, about a hundred people with different tasks are needed, distributed among the control room, the compressor room, the connecting tunnels ... Plus about thirty employees in the headquarters of the Venezia Nuova Consortium where the forecasts are analyzed and processed data. The forecasts, in fact. Precisely on the basis of the forecasts, six hours before the tide peak, it is decided to lift and the teams are alerted. In this transitional phase, which foresees the operation of the Mose only in the event of an emergency, the peak was set at one meter and a half. When the Mose is finally completed, the peak should be lowered to XNUMX meters. There is no lack of controversy, but it would not be the Mose if there were no controversies.

gates aligned

The detractors raise in particular the question of the costs associated with each lifting of the gates, about 300 thousand euros each time. But, according to the Venezia Nuova Consortium, these costs fall within the approximately 100 million euros per year already foreseen for maintenance. So, they argue, they shouldn't be a problem. And in fact, even this morning, in the face of a tide forecast of around 130 centimeters, the gates have risen again. Beyond the sea, on this side the lagoon. However you think about it, two consecutive days with a tide peak at these levels, without the Mose and therefore with high water in the city, for Venice would have been two very heavy days from many points of view, including the economic one.

The Moses rises, in Venice no high water last edit: 2020-10-16T18:00:57+02:00 da Cristina Campolonghi

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