Harmonizing the demand of Art and Nature in Hydraulics

Demands from art and nature may often be at odds not only in our crowded Italy, but also in many other countries. A clear example of such a kind of problems is given by Venice where a unique and precious city is located in the middle of a delicate estuarine environment. Since its birth, more than a thousand of years ago, Venice paid an enormous attention to the issues arising from the hydraulic management of its lagoon. Notwithstanding the often lively debate on these themes, viable solutions, both technically and politically, have always been found in the past, ensuring the survival of both the city and the lagoon. More recently, however, physical phenomena of either natural or antrophic origin have dramatically increased the impact of natural forcings on the city, imposing quite important decisions from the environmental and technological point of view. All the projects proposed and/or realized for Venice imply the solution of difficult hydraulics problems. Just think to the functioning of the buoyant gates (stability of oscillation, ordinary management, maintenance), to the conservation or reconstruction of typical morphological forms within the lagoon (channels, shoals and marshes), to the quality of the city channels (no easy solution for a sewer system), to the navigation needs within and outside the lagoon, and so on.