In the Venice Malamocco Marghera Canal is launched
The study addressing nautical accessibility in the ports of Venice and Chioggia in full respect of the lagoon environment is launched. The issue is now the analysis for the implementation of highly innovative solutions in compliance with physical constraints and hydrodynamic equilibrium of the Venetian lagoon – also considering local water traffic and the MoSE mobile dam system – as well as the greater goal of transport decarbonisation.
The initiative was promoted by the North Adriatic Sea Port Authority – Ports of Venice and Chioggia – and it is part of “CHANNELING: the Green deal for Venice” project, including an analysis based on a highly innovative scientific approach, through which for the first time hydrodynamic and navigation simulation models will be integrated with data collected in the field in real time, allowing to evaluate the hydrodynamic impact on the Malamocco-Marghera channel and on the neighboring strips in relation to maritime traffic.
Through the monitoring activity, operational and planning solutions will be then identified, to be applied both along the canal and in the surrounding areas, in order to safeguard the lagoon environment and ensure the balance between maritime traffic and environmental sustainability.
The Channeling project is worth a total of 1.7 million Euros, 50% co-financed by the European Union through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Program.
The study was committed through an international call for tenders, assigned to a pool of Italian and foreign companies led by the DHI (Former Danish Hydraulic Institute), in line with the very high quality standards required by the tender (and composed of DHI Srl (Italy) and A / S (Denmark), an international organization that has been operating for more than 50 years exclusively in the specific water sector, with particular expertise in hydraulic modelling and in hydrodynamic and solid transport processes, FORCE Technology, based in Denmark, international leader in the field of studies navigation and manoeuvring, which owns the most advanced simulators in the world; HS Marine, an Italian engineering company with specific experience in structural interventions and redevelopment and morphological reconstruction of the coastal strip; Cetena, research and simulation center of Fincantieri Group, specialized in simulations maneuvering, CFD calculation and fluid dynamics interactions between vessels and water matrix e Around Water, one-man business of geologist Andrea Zamariolo, as an expert in sedimentology and morpho-dynamics of wetlands and lagoons).
“The action we are undertaking – says the President of the North Adriatic Sea Port Authority and Special Commissioner for cruises in Venice, Fulvio Lino Di Blasio – is coherent with what we announced, that will be developed in our Operational Plan 2022-2024, that is setting environmental sustainability as principle for all our development policies. In this framework our duty to guarantee the accessibility to the ports of Venice and Chioggia is carried out in full respect both of the lagoon environment and the hydrodynamic balance. Through this study, the North Adriatic Sea Port Authority had in fact already anticipated issues that later would have been converged on the agenda of the Special Commissioner for cruises in Venice, whose mission also consists of activities related to the issue of accessibility to the infrastructures of the port system, and the practicability of channels that guarantee its access”.
In real facts, the study on the Malamocco Marghera – which will be ready within 12 months – is not only suitable to get a good practice at a European/ international level – one of the reasons why the European Commission intended to co-finance the project – but also allows to relaunch Venice and the entire port system as a privileged hub for the Green Deal challenge in terms of sustainability and attractiveness of the European economic system, as it was underlined by Julian Espina, Project Manager of European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) in connection from Brussels: “This project, reflects the essence of the European Green Deal in terms of protecting the environment and providing an efficient, safe and environmentally friendly transport system. Moreover, it will have a relevant impact on 2 of the main corridors of the TENT-T core network, namely the Mediterranean Corridor and the Baltic Adriatic corridor. The study will be used as a key decision-making tool for the public authorities and stakeholders and will propose an innovative long-term solution focusing on the delicate environment condition of the lagoon”.
The launching was also attended by Andrea Crosta – Business Unit Leader of DHI Italy and Antonio Revedin – Director of Strategic Planning and Development Department of the North Adriatic Sea Port Authority.
The next operational step will be the establishment of the Advisory Board, made up of 5 experts, with recognized expertise in the hydrodynamic, morphological and safety of navigation fields, who will perform consultative and control tasks on the activity and the results of the work.
