Fabian Lorenzo, Centis Ludovico (2022). The lake of Venice. A scenario for Venice and its lagoon. vol. 1, p. 1-292, Conegliano:Anteferma, ISBN: 9791259530226, 2022

The Venice lagoon is a mutable space, in transition between land and water. It is due to the constant work of modification and maintenance – from large enterprises carried out by the Republic, to widespread micro-interventions by fishermen, millers, and farmers – that it has not disappeared entirely. If the lagoon is a palimpsest where a tangible system of regulatory works has been developed over the last six centuries, then its future will not only need to engage with current strategies and schemes, but with all the projects and ideas that have been historically positioned there. Predicated on recent arguments for an alternative history of Venice – from speculations on the future to design the present, to the enormous historical legacy of designs that can be discovered by studying the evolution of the lagoon – this book explores another possible lagoon based on a series of missed projects and future hypotheses. Venice lagoons conceived and documented but never completed, or only partially realized, offer the opportunity to imagine or legitimize an alternative future. This is approached with the awareness that many design ideas have already accumulated in archives and settled in places, and that the current challenges – from the pressure of tourism, economic crises, health emergencies, environmental degradation, and the risks associated with climate change – are by no means unprecedented.

2022

Edited by Maddalena Bassani, Giuseppe D’Acunto, Fantina Madricardo The volume presents an overall view of the Venice Lagoon (Italy) focusing on the archaeological area of the Treporti-San Felice Channel and the ancient city of Altinum. Starting from the archaeological traces submerged detected in the analysis and re-elaboration of data through new methods and technologies, the book represents an opportunity to consider various aspects. The volume discusses geo-environmental transformations throughout the centuries, ancient settlements and road systems, and the connections between ancient and contemporary times through architectonic projects and virtual reconstructions. The bool also offers some considerations about relevant Greek and Latin texts and the Classical Tradition, promoting a ‘kaleidoscopic’ vision and understanding of the origin of Venice and of the possible scenarios for the city in the near and distant future.

Journal of Geophysical Research, 2004

1] The frequency of flooding in Venice has drastically increased over the last 50 years as a major consequence of natural and anthropogenic land subsidence, mean sea level rise, and a more active lagoon hydrodynamics induced partly by deepening of the largest navigation channels. Subsurface fluid injection is a well-established technology that is currently used either to enhance oil recovery from oil fields or to reduce land settlement due to hydrocarbon production. To help mitigate the inundation events in Venice, a numerical study of seawater injection into a 600-800 m deep geologic formation is performed with the aid of advanced numerical fluid dynamic and geomechanical models. A number of parametric scenarios are addressed, consistent with the basic geological configuration derived from the lithostratigraphy of nearby areas in the northern Adriatic basin. Preliminary quite encouraging results show that a set of 12 vertical injection wells, strategically located within the lagoon, may raise Venice from 11 to up to 40 cm over a 10 year period, thus offsetting or mitigating the vast majority of the high tides that occasionally plague the city. Further ad hoc geological and geophysical investigations of the lagoon subsurface are required before the present prefeasibility study can be turned into a design project of anthropogenic Venice uplift.

Oceanography, 2016

Coastal Engineering, 2010

The MoSE project (construction of mobile barrier to safeguard the Lagoon of Venice) entails changes to the structure of the lagoon's inlets. This could have consequences for the areas near the inlets and for the dynamics of the lagoon ecosystem as a whole. In order to predict the effects of the proposed alterations on the hydrodynamics of the lagoon, a well-tested hydrodynamic-dispersion model was applied. Simulations were carried out considering both idealised and realistic tide and wind scenarios.The results show that with the new structures the Lido sub-basin tends to increase its extension due the southward movement of the watershed, at the expense of the Chioggia sub-basin, whereas the Malamocco sub-basin changes its relative position, but not its extension.The residence time shows variations in agreement with this trend, decreasing in the southern part of the Lido sub-basin and increasing in the inner part of the Chioggia sub-basin.The variations in residence time and return flow factor indicate that they are caused by changes in both instantaneous current velocities and sea–lagoon interaction. In fact the new breakwaters in front of the Malamocco and Chioggia inlets modify the length and direction of the outflow jet (up to 1 ms− 1) and the patterns of the currents around the inlets and the nearby coast. The new artificial island in the Lido inlet changes the current pattern and increases the current velocity on the southern side of the channel propagating this effect up to the Venice city.The risks and benefits individuated from our conclusion are that the Lido sub-basin can improve its renewal time, but the more intense current speeds can be a risk for the conservation of habitats and infrastructures. Finally the micro-circulation between the breakwater and the coast in Chioggia and Malamocco inlets can be a trap for pollutants or suspended sediment.

Journal of Marine Science and Engineering

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.

2010

This project addressed the rumors spreading through the city of Venice, Italy regarding an alteration in the canal system. Residents have reported a change of flow and a movement of the watershed that influences the Venetian canals. Development and projects such as MOSE have exacerbated these concerns. This project addressed these rumors by analyzing the change of the canal system through hydrodynamics and tide delay studies. ...UNESCO and Insula for providing us with data and information from their past studies that were crucial to our project ...And lastly to our advisors Professor Fabio Carrera and Professor James CoCola for without their guidance we would not have been able to complete this project in such a sucessful manner.

2015

Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences

2020