Venice: master of water [Built Environment Venice Flood Barrier]

Despite allegations of corruption, delays and overspending, the construction of the Venice Flood Barrier has an end in sight. The final phase in the construction of the massive barrier system that will protect Venice and its lagoon from high waters was marked, ironically, by flooding. In the summer of 2013, the first four modules of the MOSE project - named after the biblical leader who parted the Red Sea - were installed at the Lido inlet, one of the three waterways connecting the lagoon with the Adriatic Sea. The system comprises a series of modular gates that, when filled with water, rest on the seafloor; they will be raised by filling them with compressed air.