Venice has been successfully protected from high tide for the 1st time thanks to its long-delayed flood barrier system which swung into operation on 3 Oct, to cheers from residents of the canal city.

Ahead of today’s expected high tide of 130cm, the city switched on the computerized Mose flood barrier, activating the 78 mobile dams that separate the city’s lagoon from the Adriatic Sea.
The yellow sluice gates, rose above the water to seal off the lagoon’s three inlets at Lido, Malamocco, and Chioggia, as Venetians waited with bated breath.
When the tide’s peak arrived at midday, however, the city’s St Mark’s Square remained largely dry, in a what was a crucial test for the barrier system.

The multi-billion-euro scheme, designed in 1984, has been plagued by corruption scandals and multiple cost overruns since work began in 2003.