Dstandish's Weblog

Four mobile barriers of Venice’s dam project have been tested at the North Lido inlet where the Venetian lagoon meets the Adriatic Sea. This test was successfully completed on 12 October 2013 and images of the first four of a total 78 barriers can be viewed in this link:
Mose, si alzano le prime paratoie

A BBC News report on the project, the test and the press conference about it can be seen by clicking on the video link on this wesbite:
Venice flood barriers pass first test

Even though the test was attended by Infrastructure Minister Maurizio Lupi, Venice Mayor Giorgio Orsoni and Veneto Regional President Luca Zaia, celebrations were muted following the arrest earlier this year of key personnel on charges of price fixing from the company in charge of constructing the dams, the New Venice Consortium (CVN).

Overall, the New Venice Consortium (CVN) stated that 80% of the whole project has now been completed. This was confirmed in a report from the International Business Times:
Venezia, inaugurate, tra le polemiche, le prime paratie mobili del Mose Read more: http://it.ibtimes.com/articles/57421/20131012/mose-venezia-acqua-alta-alta-marea-paratie-lupi-ambiente-venezia-no-grandi-navi-no-mose-bruxelles-ue.htm#ixzz2hb8oYvTY

The deadline for completing the dams is 2016 and over 4,000 people are currently working on the project, which cost an estimated €5.6 BN. Although not all the funds have been provided yet, Minister Lupi promised that another €400M is on its way and the outstanding tranches of funding are guaranteed:
Mose, test di movimentazione È emersa la prima paratoia

The dam project has been hotly debated over the last 30 years with environmentalists usually opposing it while many Venetians hope the gates will significantly reduce high flooding in Venice and islands throughout the lagoon. Demonstrators from the No MOSE committee held a protest on the day of the test for the first four barriers. The demonstrators displayed a banner that read “A Venezia la mafia si chiama Consorzio Venezia Nuova” (“In Venice the mafia is called the New Venice Consortium”). Environmentalists have consistently claimed that the dam project merely fills the pockets of businesses and officials involved with it and will not benefit Venetians, as explained in this article about their protest on 12 October 2013:
Niente da festeggiare! Grandi opere, grandi affari solo per la mafia

The debates about the project and how it is likely to impact Venice are explained in detail in my book, which is based on interviews conducted with local environmentalists and extensive research: Venice in Environmental Peril? Myth and Reality (2012). This book can be purchased by clicking on the book’s title words or by using the link on the right of this page by clicking on the image of the book’s cover.

Many institutions and places throughout the world have examined Venice’s dam system as concerns about flooding and climate change have increased. Indeed, many officials from locations that are threatened by flooding are studying Project MOSE to consider whether similar systems could be implemented elsewhere.

For anyone who would like to observe further details about the project, the New Venice Consortium produced a film showing the North Lido inlet and the launch of the caissons, which are the structures that will host the MOSE mobile gates. This film can be viewed using the link below:

The Mose system to protect Venice from high water

This next film shows the positioning of the first of the four barriers:
Mose, la posa della prima paratoia