Venice Is Drowning: Engineering Expert Explains How To Save It | WSJ Pro Perfected

Venice, Italy, is sinking. The city spent about $6 billion on MOSE – a mobile floodgate system that rises to separate the Venetian lagoon from the Adriatic Sea, blocking high tides from inundating the city. But that might not be enough. Fifty years ago, the lowest point in Venice, St. Mark’s Square, only flooded forty times a year. Now, it floods 250 times a year.

From pumping water into the city to super levees, WSJ asked an expert to explain potential engineering solutions to protect the “floating city” from being overrun by water.

Chapters:
0:00 Venice flooding
0:43 MOSE barriers
3:01 Pumping salt water into aquifers
4:57 Super levee
7:07 Venice’s adaptations to rising tides

Pro Perfected
Experts in engineering and design break down a ubiquitous problem, examining how the world is built and what can make it better.

#Venice #Italy #WSJ

[badarakonate]

Giovanni’s ability to explain a such serious problem so calmly is actually more fascinating than the problem itself 👏🏾👏🏾

[itaipee]

Very informative video. Nicely edited. I liked the balance between narrator and expert

[vitbbwt]

Venice has always been saved throughout history with amazing feats of engineering, I have no doubt this will continue.

[awellculturedmanofanime]

venice is such an iconic and gorgeous city full of heritage

[joesmith]

i just saw a documenry on how they built venice and now this

[lezhu]

My name is Giovanni Cecconi, but everybody calls me Giorgio

[Plinktitioner]

Well done video and editing. One of the best videos in a while

[averagestudent]

Comparing the base of a city to a souffle gave me chills. Engineering is awesome but we're playing with the ultimate boss.

[oswaldogarcia]

Always great to see the Real Heroes of society provide their professional expertise.

[denismourenas]

Very interesting methode ! I'm glad to see Venice's future to be brighter hopefully!

[dean]

It's impressive that its lasted this long.

[Maaad-maaan]

Venice was built on massive wood piles driven into the clay soil. What if, they just did that again?
But this time, the piles extend several feet above sea level, and they can place mounds of gravel rock over the clay to allow for better drainage.

Basically, jack the whole city up and create a new, permeable, foundation

[herzogsbuick]

any resources on the "super levee" idea? i've done a bit of googling, but everything seems to be about MOSE, i haven't been able to find a real proposal or discussion of the super levee

[JK.]

Makes Atlantis seem a lot more plausible

[pauloricardoemboabadossant]

Save Venice, please.
One the most magical, surreal places I have been to.

[spongeotakuph]

Every country, where flood is concerned, must have the MOSE gate like that.

And also, for foreign viewers here, especially Italians, I'll convert the following in metric. Remember that 1ft = 0.3048m. The UK uses both ft & m simultaneously.

0:19-0:20 - 4.59ft = 1.4m
0:20-0:28 - 4.6ft = 1.4m
0:56-0:58 - US$6B = 5.59B euros (Lira was the official currency of Italy until 1999.)
2:10 - 5.5ft = 1.7m
3:04-3:09 - 6in = 152.4mm, 4.3in = 109.22mm, 10.3in = 261.62mm
3:57-4:01 - 10in to 12in = 254mm to 305mm
5:33-5:34 - 13ft high = 3.96m high & 394ft long base = 120.09m long base

Dimensions of Modulo sperimentale elettromeccanico* (MOSE) (1:27-1:36):
12ft to 16ft thicc = 3.66m to 4.88m thicc
66ft wide = 20.12m wide
61ft to 97ft long = 18.59m to 29.57m long

Height of Leaning Tower of Pisa: 186ft = 59.97m.

*Modulo sperimentale elettromeccanico (MOSE) is Italian for Electromechanical Experimental Module.

[ticnatz]

I have had the great fortune to visit Venezia about 150 times. This city that should not be, needs to be saved....

[PeterFerguson]

I want this man to narrate every video. All of them.

[messityler]

well the city is built by wood foundation, i hope they can find a way to repair or replace those things, its still a miracle that the city is holding up, those ancient engineer are really something

[sebivagyok]

Thanks for every information in feet. Very useful outside of murica.