European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 23, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Holding Back the sea according to one plan sea Gates placed inside three passages that separate the Adriatic sea  the Venice Lagoon would help protect Venice from flooding. During storms  High tides the barriers would Rise blocking water from entering the Lagoon  inundating the City at other times the barriers would be lowered to let ships pass. A to Porto i Venice Lido Calm water in the Venice Lagoon not Venice atones for environmental sins of the past by Roberto Suro new York times Ever since marauding Franks drove the City s founders to seek an Island Refuge More than 1,100 years ago venetians have Bee known for an aggressive Genius at adapting nature to their demands. Now after centuries of building canals  causeways they Are trying to undo some of the damage they have wrought. Water is what gives Venice much of its Charm. But water pollution  frequent flooding have presented the City with a number of environmental problems. By using new engineering techniques venetians Hope that this time they can improve their habitat without creating As Many problems As they solve. Venice lies near the Center of 212 Square Miles of mostly shallow brackish water  Marshlands. The Venice Lagoon is separated from the sea by narrow strips of land that Are broken in three places to let ships  water through. Venice is naturally susceptible to Acque alte High Waters usually caused by tides  storms but recent studies show that the problem is made much worse by the ship canals which allow More water to flow in from the sea. At the same time Wells on the italian Mainland have lowered the water table causing Venice to slowly sink in Elevation. As a result flooding has become a threat not Only to artistic treasures but also to the life of a City that is rapidly losing population Between floods the water in the Lagoon stagnates. Pollution from the canals that serve As Venice s sewers accumulates feeding red tides of algae that clog the Lagoon. In an Effort to Stop the flooding without causing More stagnation the City has started construction on the first full scale prototype of huge mechanical sea Gates which will Block the water that regularly inundated the City. The sounds of welding  riveting follow at least 20 years of debate Over How to Deal with Acque alte  the often conflicting problems of stagnation  pollution. The great flood of nov. 4, 1966, set off demands for immediate action. Laws were passed designs were drawn up Money was appropriated but Little was accomplished. The saving of Venice became a periodically hot topic among local politicians As Well As scientists with divergent ideas. The new approach that has emerged is being billed As the first Post modern Public works project instead of erecting monuments in Concrete As was the Rule in eras less sceptical of Man s abilities this project must by Law emphasize measures that Are reversible. Building a movable Barrier Between the Adriatic  the venetian Lagoon is no Small task. It took the spectacle of knee High water in St. Mark s Square three years ago to propel the italian government to create the new Venice consortium a group of 26 corporations that plans to spend $5 billion of government Money on the project. Not All the efforts will lend themselves to ribbon cuttings. They include building Small barriers to protect Low lying buildings dredging some of the natural channels that meander through the Lagoon  replanting Marsh grass on the Lagoon s mud Banks. Strengthening the Semi submerged Barene As the Banks Are called with vegetation is expected to help prevent the silting that contributes to the Lagoon s stagnation. Decades ago the saving of Venice meant defending the City from the sea but now it is seen As the much broader Challenge of re establishing the Lagoon As a healthy body of water said Luigi Zanda a businessman who is president of the consortium. Many venetians have come to realize that some of the bold construction projects favored not Long ago would have meant ecological disaster. Some plans like constructing a Large Concrete canal for ship traffic through the Lagoon or greatly reducing the size of the openings to the sea would have Cut the flow of water making the situation even worse every aspect of the current project is considered experimental said Zanda. Since the Impact of each intervention has to be examined in relation to All the others we have to leave room for improvisation he said. For example computer studies Are being conducted to determine How under various weather conditions some of the sea Gates can be closed to Block High water while others can be left open to maintain circulation. Even the altering of Man made artefacts like inserting Bridges into a causeway so water can pass underneath is considered temporary until the Impact on the Lagoon is measured. We be realized that this project cannot be viewed in terms of individual initiatives to be completed in sequence one after the other because everything is so interrelated Zanda said. We can identify solutions to each individual problem but the Challenge lies in coordinating them All so they enhance instead of negate each  some environmentalists  scientists have questioned whether this juggling act is possible. Last september a debate that began Over whether pollution was a greater danger in the Lagoon than the High water brought Down a mayor  left Venice without a functioning City government for five months. Elirop6 s Bridges preserving the old maintaining the new by Audrey c. Woods associated press Europe s ancient cities built on waterway know Well the hazards of depending  have experienced the kinds of problems new York City  other areas of the United states Are Only now beginning to recognize. The oldest Bridges in Europe cared for Over the centuries As treasures of heritage have fared very Well some for a thousand years. Some Bridges built in roman times in Italy still stand virtually in their original form. Most of Europe s older Bridges Are Small  not burdened by heavy traffic. But the modern spans that carry heavy trucks  cars Are a constant expense  a frequent inconvenience at maintenance time. The . Federal Highway administration said last year that of 575,607 american Bridges at least 20 feet Long 243,646, or 42.3 percent were in need of some kind of repair. No comparable figures Are available for Europe. In new York City the Williamsburg suspension Bridge Between Brooklyn  Manhattan which carried some 400 subway trains  100,000 motor vehicles a Day was found to be dangerously eroded  closed in april creating a massive traffic dislocation. The Williamsburg built in 1903, has since reopened but Only for cars  subway trains one of Western Europe s relatively newer Bridges did fall Down 12 years ago. The Reich Brucke Empire Bridge in Vienna Austria caved in aug. 1,1976, tossing a City bus  a passenger car into the Danube. But it was a sunday morning  the bus was empty. The bus Driver saved himself the Motorist died. A 1,500-foot stretch of Bridge fell a commission said because of a defective pier  shortcomings in its construction less than 50 years before. In Copenhagen Denmark authorities Are trying to decide whether to repair or replace the landmark Knippel Bro drawbridge one of three links Between the capital  armager Island site of the Airport  major industries. The first wooden Knippel Bro was built in 1618 but the existing Iron Bridge went up in 1937, designed for 9,000 cars a Day. By 1986,40,000 vehicles  about 20,000 bicycles were crossing daily. The drawbridge opens about eight times a Day with frequent breakdowns. I Don t like being responsible for that wreck said r City Engineer Jens Woerbach. Something s got to be done about it soon because someday the Bascule maybe will get stuck  then Well be in  Bascule Are counter weighted Seesaw like devices that make drawbridge go up  Down. Woerbach said renovation would Cost $17 million. Replacement would Cost $5 million dollars More. Stockholm Sweden s capital is built on the water  regular maintenance of its More than 100 Bridges causes Long detours forcing Drivers into a confusing one Way Maze. Europe s longest Bridge the 3.7-mile olands Bron running from Sweden s Southeast coast to the Island of Oland is about to undergo a five year repair project costing $10 million to $15 million. Although Only 16 years old steel reinforcements in the Bridge s Concrete pillars Are corroding. The dutch having wrested More than half their Lowland country from the sea have developed Bridge maintenance into an Art. The 3,300-foot Moerdick Bridge spans Holland s Diep a Branch of the Rhine Estuary  when completed in 1936, it overcame a formidable water Barrier Between the Northern  Southern Netherlands. But As it became a bottleneck in the Rotterdam Antwerp Highway the dutch managed to Widen it from two to six lanes while retaining the nine original Brick  Concrete piers. In 1978, its 10 steel girded parts each 330 feet Long were removed one by one Over 10 consecutive weekends  replaced by a six Lane Concrete Highway resting on the old piers which were adapted for the extra Width. During the three month project traffic used the Bridge on weekdays. The Thrifty  resourceful dutch even sent two of the old segments to Hoo Vliet near Rotterdam to serve As a local Bridge. West Germany lost most of its Bridges in world War ii  90 percent of the existing ones Are about 30 years old. The West German government spends about $176.5 million annually maintaining thousands of Bridges on its Highway system. By 1995, it expects to be spending about $470 million a year to keep the Bridges in top shape says Heinrich Poppinga of the West German transport ministry England will get $91.7 million for Bridge maintenance in 1988-89, of which $38.5 million will go to 33 Bridges. The Pound Sterling equivalent of $8.75 million is earmarked for some of the oldest Bridges but not for London s 25 thames River spans whose Upkeep is financed by the capital s boroughs. The massive Tower Bridge As evocative a part of London s Skyline As big Ben is not nearly As old As its mock gothic style suggests. Opened in 1894, it is a drawbridge which was raised by victorian state of the Art hydraulics until 1976, when it was electrified. The Stone Clad steel towers contain elevators that carry pedestrians mostly sightseers nowadays to High level walkways. The great victorian Bridge pile shrugs off serious damage when from time to time a wayward tidal current hurls a ship into it. The City of London spent $7 million fixing it up in 1982. It still opens about five times a week for tall ships. The latest London Bridge was built in 1971 after the 1831 version was shipped Stone by Stone to Lake Hatasu City in Arizona As a tourist attraction. No City depends More on its Bridges than Italy s Venice built around a network of canals. The absence of cars is a help  Only one Bridge the 408-year-old Ponte Delle Guglie Over the Canale i Canna Reggio is undergoing some restructuring forcing the suspension of one water bus route. Cement  resins Are being injected into the Bridge. Which was showing signs of structural weakness. It was restored once before in 1776. The Ponte Fabricio built in . 62 Between Central Rome  tiberian Island is entirely original. But it takes no vehicular traffic. Ponte Cestino linking the Island to the Trastevere District was built in 46 . And restored in 1892 with a new Central Arch. Its car traffic is restricted to those using the Island s Hospital. The Ponte Vecchio crossing the Arno in Florence was built in 1345  underwent major structural restoration in the Early 1950s, because of world War ii damage  again in the 1960s, when Iron bars were inserted in the pylons. It now takes Only pedestrian traffic. They really Don t make Bridges like they used to said Paolo Mazzoni Florence s environment commissioner. If it was t for the world War ii blasts there would never have been a need for structural renovation of the Ponte  Europe s ancient Bridges do not usually carry heavy traffic. An exception is Paris Pont neuf new Bridge completed in 1608, which endures thundering car traffic in the City Center As one of the French capital s 35 Bridges across the River Seine. Pont neuf has been restored Many times but its Basic construction is unchanged. All material used in repairing it  the four others classed As historic monuments is scrupulously chosen to maintain the structural character a photos opened to traffic in 1972, Europe s longest Bridge the 3.7 mile olands Bron top running from Sweden s Southeast coast to the Island of Oland is about to undergo massive repairs. One of Europe s relatively newer Bridges the Reich Brucke in Vienna above collapsed in 1976. 14 the stars  stripes saturday july 23, 1988 the stars  stripes Page 15