Water Technology: MOSE To Save Venice

MOSE is a fascinating engineering project charged with preventing the city of Venice from sinking by protecting it from floods.

From watertechnology.net:

"...Venice is under serious threat due to the rise in sea level and sinking of land at an alarming rate. The MOSE project will protect the Venetian Lagoon from being submerged by the Adriatic Sea and protect the famous city of Venice and the neighbouring areas from flooding. It is expected to be operational by 2014

MOSE, the Italian word for Moses, is an acronym for Modulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico, which means Experimental Electromechanical Module. The name aptly alludes to the story of Moses parting the Red Sea.

The project will prevent flooding through the installation of 78 mobile gates at three inlets, namely Lido, Malamocco and Chioggia, which will separate the Venetian Lagoon from the Adriatic Sea..."

"A total of 78 mobile gates are being laid at the bottom of the seabed as part of the MOSE project. They are 92ft long, 65ft wide and will weigh 300t. The mobile gates being laid at the bottom of the inlet channel are supported by 125ft long steel and concrete pilings, measuring 500mm in diameter and 20m in length, driven into the lagoon bed.

The floodgates consist of a metal box structure. Compressed air is pumped into the structure when a tide of more than 110m height is expected. The air will rise up the barriers to the surface of the water to block the flow of the tide and prevent water from flowing into the lagoon.

Floodgates are hollowed at the bottom, to allow the blowing of compressed air. They will be filled with water and lowered into the seabed when there is no harm of flooding. The floodgates at each inlet will function independently depending on the force of the tide expected..."

 More at Telegraph.

Lampre: Where Steel, Art And Cycling Meet

Caught a couple of Stages at the Tour Down Under this past week-end while my daughter recovered from a bad cold and fever.

Won by Australia's native son Simon Garrens by a precious second over compatriot Cadel Evans and a mere five over Italian cyclist Diego Ulissi who finished third overall.

A former two-time UCI's Junior World Road Race (a race Italians completely dominate) Ulissi races for the Italian based Lampre-Merida team.

Which led me to look into Lampre.

Lampre specialises in pre-coated steel production.

As is usually the case in Italy, art never strays too far off from industry. From their website in link:

"If we had to think of a concept to be matched to steel, we would hardly think of art. For Lampre, on the other hand, the two worlds are not far away, indeed.

The motto stylish steel has in fact characterized Lampre during the past years, because the aim is to achieve stylish manufactured products by following the latest market trends, working with meticulous attention to details, respecting and achieving the highest standards of quality.
Our contemporary society assigns to aesthetic an almost absolute value, often at the expense of quality. Lampre supports the inseparability of these two aspects, instead, by promoting only materials that enclose the essence of both."

Lampre-Merida is currently ranked 14th in the world.