The project is building 78 floodgates at the 3 inlets that link the Venice lagoon to the Adriatic Sea.

When the giant doors are at rest, they will be lying on the bottom of the inlet channel, invisible to the world. Each gate will be up to 92 feet long, 65 feet wide, and will weigh 300 tons.

The gates allow one inlet to close and not the other so you are not obliged to close the whole lagoon.

Some 37 percent of the work has been completed, and MOSE should open as planned in 2012.