High Tides Put Venice Sites Under Water

[Bossy Monkey]

Oct 31, 11:02 AM EST

High Tides Put Venice Sites Under Water

VENICE, Italy (AP) -- Unusually high tides sent sea water sweeping through Venice on Sunday, covering 80 percent of the city by afternoon. St. Mark's Square and other famous locations were inundated, forcing tourists and residents alike to don rubber boots and use elevated walkways.

St. Mark's Square, the heart of the city and one of its lowest points, was covered by at least 16 inches of water. A canoeist was spotted in the square.

City officials put out raised wooden walkways, but in some places the water rose above them, the ANSA news agency said.

Leonardo Cossutta, of the city office that monitors tides, said Venice's waterborne public transportation was suspended for about an hour and some shops reported water damage.

(more)
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/V/VENICE_HIGH_WATERS?SITE=SCCOL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[ldf]

1. i sure wish something could be done

to save venice.

it would seem like with all the creative talents and new technology that is now available, something to could be done.

:(

[lovuian]

2. The results of Global Warming One of the first casualties

Venice is going under!!! How sad!!!

[Tracer]

3. Aren't they building ...

... a huge set of dikes at the mouth of the lagoon?

Seems to me that I saw a program showing the massive engineering effort that this was going to take.

[Whoa_Nelly]

4. Here's an article about the mobile dikes

http://www.italydownunder.com.au/issueeleven/venice.html

<snip>
In total there will be 79 sluice gates, five metres thick, 20 metres wide and 30 metres long. They will rise above the water when the incoming tide exceeds the alert level of 110 centimetres. In normal conditions these "intelligent" barriers will be filled with water and will be lying at the bottom of the sea. However when the high water phenomenon occurs, the water in the barriers will be ejected by a compressed air system allowing them to rise above the water, thus shutting the entrances to the three canals and keeping the tide at bay. Naturally, a number of complementary works are linked to the moveable dikes system, things like the construction of breakwaters and the bypass of supertankers delivering crude oil to the refineries of Porto Marghera. It is estimated the project will take eight years to complete, cost $4.1 billion Euros ($7.5 billion Australian dollars) and create 2000 jobs. The Mose project is the first of four major infrastructure projects promised by the Berlusconi Government –the others are the bridge over the Strait of Messina

[PeaceForever]

5. From what I've read, there's no guarantee the dykes will work. n/t