Venice Shall Rise Again

Book excerpt: The city of Venice, Italy, has been subjected to periodic flooding, or acqua alta, for centuries. Venice Shall Rise Again presents a unique proposition to halt this flooding. Based on years of work and experiment, experts Gambolati and Teatini describe an innovative yet technologically simple, economically inexpensive, and environmentally friendly project to raise Venice by 25-30 cm over ten years by injecting seawater into 650-1000 m deep geological formations. This project would be conducted under conditions of absolute safety, stability and integrity conserving the unique artistic and architectural patrimony of this deeply beloved city. Beginning with a brief history of the Venetian Republic, Venice Shall Rise Again addresses the actions undertaken by Venice to protect the city and the lagoon from the sea and land attack for more than a millennium, including the MoSE project, a system of mobile barriers presently under construction. Detailed in its engineering details and ideas, but with enough background information and context to help the interested reader understand the concepts, this book will be of interest to all readers concerned about the fate of Venice. - Provides a history of the technical measures taken by the Venetian Republic to preserve the lagoon and the city or Venice - Details technical specifications of a new method to secure Venice against periodic flooding