Venice tests flood barrier to protect city from high tide
Venice tests flood defence system
78 mobile barriers rose in unison
for the first time since being designed in 1984
The multi-billion-euro project is called MOSE
inspired by the biblical character Moses
who parted the red sea
(SOUNDBITE) (Italian) ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER, GIUSEPPE CONTE, SAYING:
"Today with this test we will see all the 78 flood barriers rising simultaneously, closing all the harbor entrances. This is a massive project that has been waiting for years to be completed, a barrier that extends for 1.6 kilometers. It is a project that was born from many controversies and designed to protect Venice from high water, a concrete objective, not an imaginary one, however visionary it may have seemed when it was designed."
Testing the project has been a priority
since Venice was hit with 3-foot-deep floods
Date: November 2019
The new system hopes to protect the city
from tides of up to 9ft
But experts worry it will be overwhelmed
by predicted projections of rising sea levels