Episode description

The medieval city of Venice is situated in the heart of a lagoon on the coast of northeast Italy. It was built on a large area of low-lying marshland. A system of wooden poles driven into the soft mud created an underwater forest. It still forms the foundations of the city we see today. For centuries the City has had to battle with ‘aqua alta’ or high tides from the Adriatic sea. And the gradual combination of water erosion and rising sea levels means the City is now facing a more urgent battle to stay afloat.

In recent years a series of barriers which sit on the sea floor and which are raised when an ‘aqua alta’ is expected have been successful in keeping the majority of the city dry. But its already been acknowledged that the Mose Barrier, as it’s known, is not a permanent solution for the future.

An idea designed to complement the Mose Barrier, one which was suggested more than a decade ago, is to inject seawater into wells underneath the city. The scientists behind the project are confident that if it were to be adopted, it would provide a uniform uplift to the city without causing any structural issues to the buildings.

This week on the Inquiry we’re asking ‘Can seawater save Venice from flooding?’

Contributors: Prof Claire Judde de Lariviere, Medieval Historian, University of Toulouse Hermes Redi, Director General of the Consorzio Venezia Nuova (responsible for the Mose Barrier) Professor Pietro Teatini, University of Padua, Chair of UNESCO International Initiative on Land Subsidence Prof Carlo Ratti, MIT, Co-Chair at the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Cities.

Presenter: David Baker Producer: Jill Collins Researcher: Bisi Adebayo Editor: Tara McDermott Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards Production Co-ordinator: Brenda Brown

(The Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy. Woman standing in flood water. Credit: Getty Images)