Campaign For A Living Venice

Conflicts over additional costs, one million for new paint: urgent meeting called to authorize financing: repairs needed at the Lido “lunata”: “Too much erosion on the seabed”

26 August 2019

By Alberto Vitucci

VENICE. Six million Euro more for the dams – one million for the new paint alone. Yet another additional bill for MoSE has arrived. The costs are rising, and for the dams produced by the Croatian firm Brodosplit the costs have now passed from 73.9 million (the bid price) to 80. In this case as well the company – like the big shareholders of Consorzio Venezia Nuova who have taken legal action against Mantovani, Fincosit and Condotte – is engaged in legal disputes with the special administrators.

An urgent meeting of the Technical Committee of the Superintendent has been called for 30 August. It must approve two projects with variances and the related expenses: the paint for the dams the “restoration” of the lunata at Lido.

Two projects to discuss. Superintendent Roberto Linetti put them on the agenda on the eve of his “end of service”. The Director of Infrastructure will in fact retire on 1 September. So, paint at the price of gold. The cost of a another million that the Consorzio does not want to pay the suppliers, along with the prospect of having to further increase the cost of maintenance. Many of the dams sitting under water have in fact already deteriorated.

The bid for building the dams at Malamocco, Chioggia and Lido San Nicolò was opened in 2014, a few months before the scandal and the arrests for corruption. The base cost was 73.9 million Euro for 57 dams – 78 total, minus the 21 already built by Cimolai of Pordenone. But the cost rose to 77.6 milion, and then grew by another 2.7 million Euro.

Now we await the definitive sentence. But the judge has already ordered a copy of the Superintendent’s accounts, ruling partly in favor of the construction company. Yet another mess concerning the components of the MoSE system that is waiting to be set right, with the replacement of the rusted hinges and posts, the repair of the “rotted” parts and the new navigation basin, which cost 380 million, is too small and is already out of use. A hundred million is the allotted budget for repairing the “problems”, which prevent the launching of the system, even when the work is complete.

The famous “lunata” has also come up. It cost 43 million Euro, and collapsed the day after its testing due to a large wave. After six years the technicians have established that the erosion on the seabed is too great, and the work must be redone. Here too there is active litigation between the Mantovani company, which performed the work, and the Consorzio’s commissioners. But the work has to be authorized and paid for. In short, continued increase in costs along with the extension of the timeframe.

The crisis in the Government does not help, preventing some decisions, such as funding for the City and ordinary maintenance. It has also held up the nomination of the Colonel of the Carabinieri Gaetano De Stefano as the commissioner for “Sblocca cantieri – restart the construction sites”.

His name was submitted by Minister Danilo Toninelli, but the signature of the President of the Council has never arrived. There is also a risk of delay filling the role of Superintendent of Public Works. Linetti retires on September 1, and it will have to be the Minister (still Toninelli) who authorizes the nomination of a successor. In this case it is not a discretionary nomination, but a choice between those with qualifications and first tier managers at the Ministry.

At the top of the list is manager Franceso Sorrentino, who has good experience with the lagoon and working in the offices of the State. However, also in line is the current vice to Linetti, manager Giovanna Zincone.

Source: La Nuova Venezia