MOSE flood barrier protects venice - see how it works

UPDATE 12/07/20: venice’s MOSE has been raised, following an ‘acqua alta’ of 135 cm that hit the lagoon city at 02:40 on saturday december 5th. MOSE has been shown to be effective in preventing the flooding that ‘acqua alta’ high tides cause. it has already saved venice from a 120 cm flood earlier this week.

the much delayed yet recently completed MOSE flood barrier system has successfully protected venice for the first time on saturday, october 3rd 2020, during storm alex. officials had anticipated the worst with a forecasted tide of 1.30cm (4.27ft), but the mobile floating architecture worked effectively. it follows the worst floods in 50 years that left st mark’s square submerged under a meter of water in november 2019.

‘today, everything is dry. we stopped the sea,‘ city mayor luigi brugnaro told reporters on saturday. ‘lots of bad things have happened here, but now something wonderful has happened.‘

located at the inlets of lido, malamocco and chioggia that divide the adriatic sea from the venice lagoon, the MOSE flood barrier system comprises a network of 78 bright yellow guards. these are split into four barriers, which each include multiple gates to admit vessels through. to offer a defense of the entire lagoon, the floodgates lie full of water and completely invisible in housing when inactive. compressed air is then introduced in the event of a particularly high tide. the barriers thus rise up and block the flow of the incoming tide.

see how the system works via the video above (illustrations in italian)

the MOSE flood barrier system was greatly needed due to the increasing frequent and intense high waters that hit venice over the recent years, most notably in 2019. it is designed to protect the city from tides of up to 3 meters – much higher than the forecast tide on the saturday. as well, the floodgates also guarantees the quality of the water in the lagoon, protection of the landscape, and the maintenance of the port activity.

diagram of the floodgate system