The increasing threat from sea level rise has motivated officials in Venice, Italy, to consider an initiative to lift the historic foundations of the city out of harm’s way, according to reports in the La Stampa newspaper.

Under an operation known as Project Rialto – after the island that forms the historic centre of Venice – local officials and engineers hope to gradually elevate buildings by as much as one metre by placing poles beneath the foundations and jacking them up using hydraulic pumps, moving at rates of around eight centimetres per day to minimise structural damage.

Venice has endured increasingly frequent flooding in recent times and is estimated to have sunk by 23 centimetres since 1897. Between 1993 and 2002, there were more than 50 flood incidences, with the worst recorded in November 1966, when the city stood in almost two metres of water.

The mayor of Venice, Massimo Cacciari, praised the plan as being ‘of great interest’, despite an estimated cost of €2,500 per square metre. However, the chairman of charity Venice in Peril (VIP), which raises funds to conserve and restore the art and architecture of the city, was less impressed. ‘There is no point in raising just a few of Venice’s buildings as they are all pretty much adjoined to one another,’ said Anna Somers-Cocks. ‘This is not a long-term solution to the grave threats that face Venice.’

VIP is instead backing the ongoing €4.5billion construction of a series of storm barriers – known as Project Moses – which, despite receiving strong opposition from environmental groups, is expected
to be completed by 2012.