9th ICOLD European Club Symposium

Technical visits | Vajont Dam - Mose System

Technical Visits to Vajont Dam and Mose System are planned on Saturday, April 13th .
Please book your visit through the on line registration at the Symposium.

Vajont Dam

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Program of the visit
The program of the visit includes an illustration of the history of the dam, from the first design in 1926 to the tragedy in 1963. The visit to the sites of the physical model and to the dam will follow. Near the dam you will see the scene of the landslide which extends about 2 km.

The foreseen program for the visit includes

Departures from Mestre
Technical illustration of the history of the dam
Visit to the hydraulic model of the landslide located in the power plant of Nove (TV)
Visit to the Vajont dam
Lunch
Return to Mestre

All the transfers will be by bus.
We recommend the use of outdoor clothing, trekking shoes as footwear.

Price: € 90,00 per person

The hystorical background
At the end of the second world war Italy was engaged in the difficult task of the economic reconstruction and of the rise of a new industry. Not having fossil fuel, the only natural resource available for the development was its 'blue oil' - the water - and so a lot of hydroelectric power plants were built. During the 50s the construction of the dams saw a great technological and scientific challenge in which the best brains of the country were involved. The Vajont dam represented the greatest technological challenge: the highest double curvature dam in the world.

The Dam
The initial project of a dam at the Vajont site dates back to 1926, but the design was modified in the following years. The first excavation took place in 1957. In 1960 there was the first experimental infill.

The discovery of the landslide
On the 4th November 1960 there was a first small landslide. Several thorough geological studies were carried out. It was discovered the existence of a big landslide of ancient origin, the so called paleoslide.
To evaluate the effects, a physical model of the valley and the landslide was built near the hydropower plant of Nove.

The Tragedy
On the 9th October 1963, at 22.39 a huge landslide of about 200 million cubic meters from the Toc Mountain fell into the lake. A wave with an height of about 250 m. and a mass of about 50 million cubic meters was formed. A part of this wave destroyed the villages along the banks. A part over passed the crest of the dam. This wave destroyed the city of Longarone and several villages located just at the mouth of the Vajont valley and along the Piave river. More than 2000 people were killed.

The gorge of the Vajont

The first infill

View of the dam after the event
of the 9th October 1963

The Vajont valley today

Mose System

Click here to get the updated programme

Program of the visit
The high water condition frequently affecting Venice is a major problem, both for the normal life in the city and for the conservation of the architectural heritage. The technical visit will illustrate the main features of the "Mose" system, designed to protect Venice and to mitigate the problem.

The foreseen program for the visit includes

Departures from Mestre (morning)
Technical description of the Mose system and visit to the area where the Mose system is under construction, by boat
Return to Mestre around noon.

Transfers from Mestre to the embarkation point and back will be by bus.
Please note that lunch is not included in the visit.

Price: € 90,00 per person

The indicated cost is referred to a minimum of 30 registered participants. In case of a lower number of registrations, the Organizing Committee reserves the right to cancel the technical visit or to propose participants to move on another visit. Please be aware that registrations to technical visits will be closed when reached the maximum number of possible persons per visit.

What is Mose?
Since the beginning of the 1900s, high waters in Venice have become ever more frequent as the level of the land has dropped with respect to the sea.
The Mose System to safeguard Venice from high waters consists of mobile barriers able to temporarily separate the lagoon from the sea and protect Venice. It is being constructed at the three openings in the barrier island through which tides propagate in the lagoon.

How does it work?
The mobile barriers consist of rows of gates. In normal tidal conditions, the gates rest in housing structures on the bed in the inlets, completely invisible and without modifying exchanges between sea and lagoon. They are raised only when necessary to block the incoming tide and avoid flooding the lagoon and built up areas.
The work sites have been organised along precise criteria to prevent interference with the fragile barrier island and activities taking place there.
Till now, about 75% of the construction work has been completed.

Restoration of environmental balance
Mose is the last and most important element in the plan of measures to safeguard the lagoon well being.
Its construction proceeds in parallel with a programme of work to protect the ecosystem unequalled anywhere in the world for the size of the area involved, nature of the problems tackled and scale and characteristics of the measures implemented. 85% of the Plan of Interventions in the lagoon has now been completed.