OPERATIONAL AND STRUCTURAL SOLUTIONS FOR A SUSTAINABLE NAVIGATION IN THE MALAMOCCO – MARGHERA CHANNEL (VENICE LAGOON)

A comprehensive and interdisciplinary investigation has successfully pinpointed sustainable strategies for increasing the capacity of the Malamocco-Marghera Channel, the main navigational route in the Venice Lagoon. These measures address the erosion challenges affecting the tidal flats surrounding the channel, at the same time ensuring safe and sustainable navigation conditions. The study activities have been carried out within the “Channeling the Green Deal for Venice", a CEF European funded project that tackles the limited nautical accessibility of the port of Venice, fully respecting the environment and the UNESCO protected site of the Venice Lagoon. After conducting a rigorous selection process through Public Tender procedures, the Port of Venice entrusted the study to a consortium led by DHI S.r.l. This consortium included DHI A/S, Force Technology, HS Marine S.r.l., Cetena S.p.a., and Around Water. To achieve the ambitious goal, a complex and structured combination of navigation and hydrodynamic/sediment transport models have been planned and implemented. For the first time hydrodynamics, real time navigation and morphological models mutually interact to identify the best solutions.