How Deep Is The Water In Venice?

July 12, 2020

Venice's canal has an average depth of 16.5 ft (five meters) with a maximum depth of 164ft (50m). It is 2.36 miles (3.8 km) long, and 98 ft to 295 ft (30 to 90 m) wide.

The Grand Canal, forms one of the major water-traffic corridors in the city with one end of the canal leading into the lagoon near the Santa Lucia railway station and the other end leads into the basin at San Marco; in between, it makes a large reverse-S shape through the central districts of Venice.

How deep is Venice Canal?

From Forbes, research by the Italian Institute for Marine Research (Ismar-Cnr) and the Italian Navy using echolocation technology found the maximum depth in the Venetian Lagoon was fifty meters (164 ft) below sea level.

Is Venice Built On Stilts?

The city of Venice is made up of 117 islands that are linked together by water canals, numerous small bridges, as well as 3 large bridges of the Grand Canal. In the lagoon of Venice, there is a collection of a small island of rock and mud where people started driving wood pilings into the mud and sand and into the clay. The wood was gathered in a forest far away in the mountains of Slovenia, Croatia, and Montenegro and then transported by water to Venice.

The wood does not rot as it is not exposed to oxygen when it is submerged in the water and mud. The wood becomes hardened like a stone-like structure due to the crystallization of mineral in the mineral-rich water passing through it.

Why Is Venice Built On Water?

Venice was built in the middle of a lagoon to protect it from foreign bandits and armies. It was easier to defend islands than it is to defend a city on land.

Is Venice Sinking Or Is The Water Rising?

Venice sank about 120 mm in the 20th century due to natural plate tectonic movement and groundwater extraction, in addition to a sea-level rise of about 110 mm at the same time. Before the 2000s, Venice was sinking when scientists realized that pumping groundwater from beneath the city, combined with the ground's compaction from centuries of building, was causing the city to settle. The stop to the groundwater pumping and subsequent studies in the 2000s indicated that the sinking seems to stop.

However, in a 2010s study using GPS and InSAR analysis, a team used data from 2000 to 2010 and found the city of Venice was subsiding on average about 1 to 2 millimeters a year (0.04 to 0.08 inches per year). The patches of land in Venice's lagoon (117 islands in all) are also sinking, with northern sections of the lagoon dropping at a rate of 2 to 3 mm (0.08 to 0.12 inches) per year, and the southern lagoon subsiding at 3 to 4 mm (0.12 to 0.16 inches) per year.

In the past two decades, the volume of motor-powered traffic on Venice’s canals has doubled. The foundations of more than 60% of the buildings on the Grand Canal have been damaged by the wash from the waterbuses and barges, and the situation has worsened since Venice became one of the Mediterranean’s biggest ports for cruise ships. Since 2015, giant ships of more than 95,000 tonnes have been banned.

Will Venice Really Sink?

The churches and palazzi should continue to stand for many more decades. Long before the water overwhelms Venice, however, it could die of tourism which slows down the building of movable barriers.

How Long Does It Take For Venice To Sink?

How many more years until Venice sinks or survives? A recent climate change study has warned that Venice will be underwater by 2100 if the acceleration of global warming is not curbed. This is because the Mediterranean Sea is expected to rise by up to 140 centimeters (over four feet) in the next century. The oceans and seas continue to expand as a result of increased concentrations of greenhouse gasses raising the temperature of the earth’s atmosphere.

How Many Times Has Venice Flooded?

The peak level was the highest reached since December 2008, according to Venice statistics. Exceptionally high tides in Venice occurs once every four years, on average. However minor flooding in the city happens around four times a year and usually within the winter months.

Conclusion

Venice is definitely a unique city closely related to water. Tourism has been a double-edged sword and hopefully, the water problem can be resolved faster than later before Venice sinks too deep affecting Venice Life.

Efforts have been made to get the information as accurate and updated as possible. If you found any incorrect information with credible source, please send it via the contact us form
Author: Sky Hoon
Italy Lover. He travel to Europe a few times and loved Italy for its unique language and culture. He loved the idea of Italian food focusing on original taste of the ingredient.
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