Comments on: To Keep Venice From Going Underwater, Researchers Say, Pump Water Under Venice

By: Geack

Geack — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:53:27 +0000

@ 3. Bruce,
Your argument is based on what, exactly? I suspect that the people who studied the area geology and concluded there was a good chance of success have at least as good a grasp of the local sediment structure as you do.

@1. Venice isn’t built on a low spot next to the ocean – it’s mostly built on piers, IN the lagoon. Isolating it from the ocean would be very difficult, aesthetically unacceptable, and more expensive than the pumping concept, plus it would introduce a whole bunch of unpredictable new conditions.

@6. Another layer of what, built where? Most of the city is built on tens of thousands of wooden piers driven into the mud bottom of the lagoon. No good place to slip in another layer of some magical extensible material.

By: Bill Carruth

Bill Carruth — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 01:40:13 +0000

Gotta idea. How about pumping water into the pie holes of the GOP candidates for president. With luck they – one at a time- would be ‘lifted’ and eventually float away never-ever to be heard from again.

Meanwhile, let’s save Venice and all the history surrounding. Good luck!

By: m

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 12:20:18 +0000

Better to spend that money on building another layer. Raise the buildings (you wish to save) up by putting an EXTENSIBLE LAYER in at the base, which in 50-100 years can be increased again easily.

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 04:00:25 +0000

How can 15 cm be considered “small” in light of the global sea level rising being a problem? Drop 15 cm of water out of that picture and would it be close to dry? Surely would make the tidal effect a much shorter period each day.

By: Victor Grauer

Victor Grauer — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 23:07:50 +0000

Why not simply repave it, or at least repave the peripheries, adding a layer of roughly 1 foot of concrete? Also, if Global Warming is causing the sea to rise by the dangerous margins now being predicted, why isn’t Venice in a lot more trouble than it is? As I understand it, the sea has been rising around it for centuries.

By: Bruce Golden

Bruce Golden — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 16:24:57 +0000

very low probability of any rebound, these aquifers have the same plate-like sands as the Houston/Baytown Texas area. When these aquifers are pumped, the sand slides and slips so that the plate surfaces collapse together. Once this occurs, no rebound is possible unless water and air is pumped in with sufficient pressure(turbulence/velocity) to “fluff” the grains and re-establish some edge of plate to center of the next plate contact and the resulting larger “void” zone. Practically speaking, is uneconomic and with the very shallow Venice aquifers, substantial probablilty of breakthrough to the surface and complete de-pressurization of the aquifer.

would have some success if use mud-jacking or the equivalent.

By: OliverJ

OliverJ — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 12:26:28 +0000

Because it would ruin the beautiful view around Venice. Also, the city needs to have easy access to the sea, as the city depends on boats.

By: MikeG

MikeG — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 09:05:14 +0000

Why don’t they investigate the use of Dutch type dykes?