MOSE Project

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MOSE Project (acronym for Modulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico (in English, Experimental Electromechanical Module)).is a project intended to protect the city of Venice, Italy, against the rise of sea level. The name MOSE is also a play on the Italian name for Moses, Mosè. The project is being executed by engineers at FIAT.

As of August 2006, the new government of Romano Prodi has announced that the project is "under review" for budgetary reasons ^[1].

1 Usage
2 Projections
3 Controversy
4 References
5 Notes

[edit] Usage

The project consists of a system of 79 mobile barriers designed to protect the three entrances to the Venetian Lagoon. The barriers will stay on the seabed until high tides and storms are forecast. They will then be inflated, blocking the sea from the lagoon and effectively reducing high water levels.

[edit] Projections

The MOSE project has a budget of € 3 billion and it is planned to be completed by 2011.

[edit] Controversy

The project has known a resistance from both the environmentalists as "Save Venice and the Lagoon" and conservationist groups as Italia Nostra. One of the major reactions was that of World Wide Fund for Nature.^{[citation needed]}