Preventing Floods with Pressure Transmitters

The MOSE flood defense scheme for Venice, Italy, is an exceptional project, consisting of 78 mobile flood gates that can be raised during storm surges and high tides to safeguard this historic floating city against water damage.

Controlling the Flood Gates

The barrier lies out of sight on the bottom of the lagoon in normal conditions, preserving the iconic cityscape. ABB’s pressure transmitters play a major role in helping to control the lowering and raising of the flap gates, effectively and quickly, in the event of flooding.

An Iconic Challenge

Venice is actually under threat due to the combination of rising sea levels and a drop in land level. A mobile flood barrier which covers three inlets of the lagoon and stretches for more than a kilometer would provide an optimal solution to this issue. Rows of adjacent flap gates, 78 in total are linked to foundations on the seabed and huge hinges enable them to lower and raise as required.

The complexity of the project along with the immense heritage status of the city meant that any solution must provide longevity, be extremely responsive and fulfill precision engineering requirements.

Accuracy Under Pressure

For effective function, the MOSE flood defense scheme depends on ABB’s 2600T series pressure transmitters to measure the pressure of compressed water and air in the flap gates. Air pressure indicates when the gates have risen to a level that is adequate to block any high tides from entering the lagoon, making sure that lowering and raising of the mobile gates is controlled and optimized.

These monitoring devices are designed for subsea installation, and these are highly stable and robust solutions that can operate accurately even at the bottom of a Venetian lagoon.

ABB’s pressure transmitters measure water and air pressure in all of the 78 mobile gates that make up the Venice flood defense scheme, helping to control their position and prevent flooding.

This information has been sourced, reviewed and adapted from materials provided by ABB Measurement & Analytics.

For more information on this source, please visit ABB Measurement & Analytics.