Steel floodgates to save Venice from flooding
The contract on building of 41 steel floodgates was signed yesterday in Venice between Shipbuilding Industry Split, d.d. and company Costruzioni Mose Arsenale (COMAR). Floodgates will be installed on mouths of Malamocco and Chioggia, that are two out of three mouths leading from Venetian Lagoon towards Venice with the purpose of stopping the effect of tide on the City of Venice.
After international tender, Consortium Venezia Nuova decided that Brodosplit was the best tenderer among the strong competition and it was officially selected as builder of steel gates for the two mouths. Total project that will be executed by Brodosplit includes over 12,000t of built-in steel with overall value of works and logistics of about EUR 50 million.
Under threat of sea level rise, endangered architecture and numerous floods at Piazza San Marco and surrounding streets, Venice could become the dying relic. However, with Brodosplit in action there is a realistic chance that this gem of culture in the Adriatic would be preserved for the centuries to come, Tomislav Debeljak, Brodosplit Chief Executive Officer, pointed out.
Brodosplit will deliver 41 steel floodgates, with dimensions of 29 x 24m, thickness of 6m and weight of 300t. Works are to commence immediately. Several hundreds of workers will be engaged during a period of 2 years. Three floodgates at a time will be delivered by sea up to the estuary where they will be installed each 90 days after making depending on the requested dynamics. The work on several floodgates will proceed in paralel. Floodgates are designed as special resevoirs filled by air or water.
When they are filled by water, they will lie down at the sea bottom, and when they are filled by air, they will be lifted up to the sea surface and used for closing of entrances to the Lagoon. When air is left out, they will be filled by water again and will go down to the sea bottom.
