Critics of a huge underwater barrier system being built to protect Venice from flooding pooh-poohed recent tests of the project, which has been plagued by corruption and cost overruns.
The consortium overseeing the project, which includes 78 barriers weighing 10 tons each, said their latest tests of the system dubbed “Moses” were successful.
But a critic, offshore marine engineer Paolo Vielmo, said the barriers could possibly break under certain conditions.
“Its behavior is not predictable,” Vielmo said, noting the tests so far don’t reproduce the real-life extreme oscillation of turbulent seas.
Flooding has plagued the city, as exceptional tides — more than 4.5 feet — have become more frequent.
Codacons, a consumer and environment protection advocacy group, asked officials to run more tests to see if the project is indeed viable.
Cost overruns, delays and a 2014 corruption scandal that sent 35 people to jail have plagued the barrier system, which was initially projected to cost $2 billion and was supposed to be completed in 2011. Costs have instead hit $6.1 billion and isn’t complete.
With Post wires