Abstract
The Venice lagoon is one of the most important areas in Italy because of its history and its particular structure and form. In order to defend Venice and other towns within the lagoon from severe floods, the Italian Government promotes a project that includes, among other measures, the construction of the Experimental Electromechanical Module (MoSE). The MoSE is a system of mobile gates installed at the lagoon inlets that are able to temporarily isolate the Venetian lagoon from the Adriatic Sea during severe storm surge events, thus ensuring acceptable safeguarding water levels. To prevent interference between the barriers and the normal port activities, locks have been constructed at each lagoon inlet. However, the use of such locks causes a slowdown in maritime traffic. In order to evaluate a means of reducing such interference during the flooding events characterized by high but not extreme water levels, the present paper demonstrates, by means of a numerical approach, that one of the three inlets can be left open so as to ensure the transit of the vessels. The present paper also points out the meteorological conditions for which the safeguarding water levels of the lagoon are not exceeded when closing only two inlets.
Highlights
The Venice lagoon is located in the northern part of the Adriatic Sea, and it is one of the widest and most important lagoon ecosystems in both Europe and the entire Mediterranean basin [1]
The flood barriers of Malamocco inlet have not been activated, the maximum water level estimated for the events of 19 November 2010 was not greater than the safeguarding levels of 110 cm MZPS
If the water levels expected inside the lagoon overcome the safety levels (i.e., 110 cm MZPS in Venice or 130 cm MZPS in Chioggia), the raising of the barrier could start at a water level lower that indicated by the true barrier closure criteria
Summary
The Venice lagoon is located in the northern part of the Adriatic Sea, and it is one of the widest and most important lagoon ecosystems in both Europe and the entire Mediterranean basin [1]. The Venice lagoon is connected to the Adriatic Sea by three inlets, from north to south: Lido, Malamocco and Chioggia (see Figure 1). Such inlets are characterized by a width of between 500 m and 1000 m and by a depth in the range from 6 m to 20 m. In order to reduce the interference between the water-level control system and the maritime traffic during non-extreme events, the Malamocco inlet could remain open while the barriers in other inlets could be raised up The application of this solution results in a slowing down of the tidal flow between the Adriatic Sea and the lagoon.
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