The city of Venice is an engineering marvel of the world. The city houses almost 300,000 people and is one of the most visited places in Europe. Today, Venice is a tourist city. It has become world famous due to its architecture and famous waterways. The city is made up of 118 islands and 150 canals. It is home to over 400 bridges and in this city, the only way to travel is either on foot or by boat. Venice truly is one of the world's most unique cities.

Some History

Long ago the buildings were built by using long wooden piles (about 60’ long) driven deep into the ground. These piles go deep down into the soil, reaching past the weak silt and dirt to a portion of the ground that was hard clay which could hold the weight of the buildings placed on the piles above.  The piles were also driven into the water which normally would have been a disaster as wood rots normally. The wood used in the construction of the piles was very water resistant but even so the wood should have rotted away eventually. However, several things happened which kept the wood intact for over 500 years.  The first is that wood rots only when both air and water are present, so in the oxygen starved environment of the water underneath the buildings, the wood was protected until the second thing happened.  The waters of the lagoon carried an extremely large amount of silt and soil and the wood was being blasted by this sediment for years.  The wood absorbed the sediment and quickly petrified into basically stone at an accelerated pace.  The wood used in the construction of the piles was also very water resistant such as oak or larch. 

Recently, the pile system has shown some drawbacks. Drinking water has always been a problem for the city since the water surrounding Venice is salt water from the Mediterranean Sea. During the 1960’s artisan wells were opened across the city which were drilled deep underground for potable water. However, as the water was drained from underneath the hard clay in which the foundations were piled into, the city began to sink at an increased rate. Drilling was halted and artisan wells were banned across the city because the damage done could never be fixed. Another large issue with the piling method concerns the rising tides across the planet. This is something that the residents of this city have come to regard as a fact of life, and are not immensely troubled by it.

Will it work?

Concerns about interference with normal tides can increase the levels of toxic chemicals, such as mercury, in the waters of Venice. This could threaten the lives of both marine life and the health of the people who eat the local fish. Since Venice does not have sewers, most of their "household waste flows into the canals and is washed out into the ocean twice a day with the tides"  (Fletcher,2005). So, there is no telling what effects the gates can have on the city's natural waste system.

Environmental, Water Resources, Ocean, Geotechnical, and several other engineers are working hard to solve any potential problems with the project. Some say that the project will be a total failure because it would have a negative affect on Venice. Then there are also those who say that this project will have a positive impact on the city. Since the project is rather new, and completion for the project isn't for another 3-4 years, one will only be able to know the true impact of the project until it is put into effect. There are several professionals working on the project and since there are yet to be any true uncertainties with the project, construction will continue as normal. Hopefully, the project can create a prospective future for the city of Venice.