[News Terms] 'Moses' Preventing Frequent Flooding in Venice

'Mose (MOSE)' is a tidal barrier installed at the entrance of the lagoon in Venice, Italy. It is an Italian acronym for 'Modulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico,' which translates to 'Experimental Electromechanical Module.' Due to its name reminiscent of Moses from the Bible, local Italian media often describe Mose as Moses parting the waters to save Venice.

Composed of a total of 78 artificial barriers, Mose remains submerged underwater under normal conditions and rises above the surface to block tides when a tide rise warning is issued. The tidal barrier Mose is designed to block tides up to 3 meters high.

The water city of Venice has suffered habitual flooding damage every year from September to April due to the 'Acqua alta' phenomenon, where tides rise. The measure prepared by the Venice authorities and the Italian government was the 'Mose Project,' which involved erecting tidal barriers to prevent seawater from invading the city center.

Moses in operation.
[Photo by X (formerly Twitter) capture]

However, the implementation of the Mose Project was not easy. The roots of the Mose Project date back to 1966. When the worst tide ever recorded, reaching 194 cm, flooded the entire city, the government reportedly gathered famous engineers to discuss installing tidal barriers, which was the beginning of the project.

Since then, the Mose Project repeatedly failed due to government corruption and opposition from environmental groups until the final design was announced in 2002. Construction finally began in April 2003, aiming for completion in 2011. However, due to government corruption and other issues, completion was delayed multiple times, first to 2018 and then to 2020. Meanwhile, construction costs soared from the initial 1.6 billion euros (approximately 2.2947 trillion KRW) to 6 billion euros (approximately 8.6044 trillion KRW), a 3.7-fold increase.

In November 2019, the city was flooded by Acqua alta with tides rising to 187 cm, the second highest in history, submerging more than 85% of the city. Schools closed, citizens and tourists were isolated, and homes, shops, and cultural heritage sites were damaged by water, with total damages reaching about 1 billion euros (approximately 1.4343 trillion KRW). Italians lamented that if the Mose Project had been implemented on time, the damage could have been prevented, blaming government incompetence for the failure.

Mose was completed in the first half of 2020 but brought about other problems. In October of that year, when bad weather predicted tides over 130 cm, Mose was operated for about an hour to prevent flooding in Venice, prompting cheers from the citizens. However, in December, meteorological authorities failed to predict the high tide, Mose was not activated, and Venice was flooded again, leading to accusations of 'man-made disaster.'

Cost is also an issue. Operating Mose requires enormous expenses. Each operation costs about 200,000 euros (approximately 287 million KRW). Since the first operation on October 3, 2020, Mose has been operated a total of 60 times, with expenses exceeding 10 million euros (approximately 14.3523 billion KRW) to date.

There are also doubts about the long-term effectiveness of Mose, which was designed without considering tidal changes due to climate change. Andreina Zitelli, a former professor at IUAV University of Venice and a member of the environmental group Ambiente Venezia, pointed out, "No one knows how Mose will respond under extreme weather conditions with very strong winds and waves over 3 meters high."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.