MoSE: The Audacious Project to Protect Venice from Flooding and Preserve the Venetian Lagoon

Please join us for this Edison Lecture featuring Andrew J. Whittle, Edmund K. Turner Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, MIT

September 27, 2024 at 5:00 p.m.

Carey Auditorium, Hesburgh Library
University of Notre Dame

Open to the public, all are welcome.

The iconic Italian city of Venice has suffered from regular flooding events associated with tides and storms. Regular high-water events have disrupted everyday life and damaged many historic structures with increasing frequency over the last 50-plus years.

In 1987 the Magistrato alle Acqua initiated the MoSE project to protect the city from flooding and ensure the environmental health of the Venetian lagoon. MoSE includes a novel barrier system consisting of sets of buoyancy flap gates that stretch across the three tidal inlets that separate the lagoon from the sea. The gates reside below the seabed and pivot on a set of massive hinges. This remarkable engineering system minimizes the duration and impacts of tidal closures while limiting the maximum water elevation within the lagoon.

This lecture will describe the audacious engineering of the MoSE system, the challenges involved in its construction, and the essential role of maintenance. Since first activation of the system in October 2020, the barriers have been raised approximately 25 times per year. The effects of sea level rise are likely to increase the frequency of gate closures and adversely impact the health of the lagoon. This can be addressed in the short term through refinements in the current operating protocols but has the potential to limit the design life of the system.

Andrew J. Whittle is the Edmund K. Turner Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT. He is an expert in geotechnical engineering soils. Whittle is a licensed professional engineer (PE and P.Eng.) and an active consultant who has worked on more than 30 major onshore and offshore construction projects. He has served on a number of major expert review panels, including the CVN Technical Review Panel for the MoSE Flood Defense System, Venice (2010-2013).

Whittle earned his BSc. in Civil Engineering from Imperial College, London (1981) and his ScD from MIT (1987). A faculty member at MIT for more than 36 years, he has co-authored more than 270 papers and received numerous awards for his research. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2010.

The Edison Lecture Series was established in 1989 by the Charles Edison Fund to stimulate interest in and encourage participation in science and technology. Notre Dame Engineering’s Edison Lectures are designed to bring new ideas and innovative perspectives on engineering to our community and beyond.