world. power and boundless ambition have plunged the middle east into a race crisis. to live in places of the cold storage nov 27th on t.w. . by rights venice shouldn't really exist with its 124 islands and countless bridges and canals this city in northern italy was built in the middle of a marsh. it's proof of human or dangerous n'est and our ability to mostyn nature. show that there are many beautiful cities in the world but venice is in a class of its own needs you. every year more than

$30000000.00 tourists come to marvel at the palazzo surround the grand canal. these stately townhouses are architectural masterpieces built using techniques that are unique worldwide. then it seems to float away kissed me over the water but in fact the entire city stands on a forest of wooden tiles 10000000 logs were driven into the mud contrary to all prevailing rules of evan construction. the architects of the time conquered the lagoon to build one of the world's most extraordinary cities but the water is a continual threats even today. then this is palaces withstand the danger posed by the water hole will they gradually sink.

the history of the nest began more than one and a half 1000000 years ago in a large stretch of course in the northern mediterranean on the adriatic coast of italy. and again on the southern edge of the alps is 50 kilometers long and 10 kilometers winds. at one time it consisted of brackish water sand and mud and inhospitable place of little interest to anyone. then in the 5th century coastal inhabitants discovered the lagoon as a refuge which. log up of the lagoon was a natural fortress it was very difficult for enemies and their sailing ships to find their way around here but getting only the locals knew all the channels so

they didn't have to build walls. even architectural historians like to let teller collaborate know very little about the 1st welling's built this area. that history is imagining there are just a few paintings which give us an idea of what things may have looked like on riata island sound to the core of the settlement committed straw thatched wooden huts it was located on reality it was the cost of the only up any more than if the 1st buildings in ancient venice were built on the most stable areas of the namely out o. comes from alto which indicates a high location by the river with the name of the district or soetoro includes the word for solid the early city was built at sites like the 3 that the. various beginnings was still centuries away from the venice of palaces and bridges

we know today. the 1st the nice. and slipped on small islands separated by boards where. each island had a small village with a similar structure essential an open space with houses a ground it and a church in the middle. it doesn't need to be that explains why there are so many churches and small squares here because they were the centers of these all the micro towns and treat them all. over the centuries the small islands were linked by bridges which were often built over the water at strange angles. in the 2nd century building space gradually became scarce. the problem could only be solved by developing new manmade areas but

that was far from easy the bed of that again consists of sediment and much crisscrossed by numerous water courses building ground that was in constant movement. in one of the israel logically speaking this is neither solid ground nor the sea the ground varies considerably on the one hand almost it is characterized by the sands of which the rivers are transported from the land of this underneath the mouth out in the reeds there are pizza oils have a totally different consistency so venice is built on various layers of different density and that makes for problems why do we see so many slanting church towers. because they are not standing on just one type of substrate. venice's church tile is leaning to one side but they do not tell close.

so how did architects manage to build on this difficult ground without the buildings collapsing. the secret is to be found in simple wooden posts. hundreds of thousands of them were driven into the bed of the. depths of 3 to 8 meters below the surface architects have discovered a layer of sedimentary clay known as kind i'm told beneath the mud. by driving the posts into this layer of clay a stable building foundation was made possible. civil engineer dino to morley explains the principle was the father would lead in order to stabilize the building substrate piles were driven into the bed in each area. it's efficient piles are used in the areas then so that with water the mud between the piles becomes compressed and thus more stable than everything outside the area the piles keep everything together and prevent the substrate from being washed out that's the

principle behind ground stabilization of the body. in this way the venetians created man made areas on which an entire city could gradually be built. because architects had discovered that the wooden piles did not cross in the mud. and. the poles. underneath the buildings in the mud. that covenant clearly in oxygen free environment certain none of the microbes that would normally think they would can get into that. the wood undergoes a process of mineralization it turns rock hard and remains intact for centuries. the most famous the mission buildings were constructed on this building ground of

mud and wood. st mark's square with its balance how it stands on 100000 forward in time. to time basis of the reality of bridge rest 112000 particles. imes more than $1000000.00 wouldn't piles were driven into the lagoon for the impressive last salute event silica which is built of marble. there are between $8.10 i wouldn't piles were square meter with the entire city stands on an incredible number of. it's rather like the opposite of a forest. here the troubles are function like roots it is. all in all an estimated 10000000 wouldn't piles have been driven into the

a large proportion of what used to be the northern italian forest. predominantly oak and large trunks from the surrounding regions was shipped to the lagoon to create extremely expensive building ground. for the foundation which accounted for half the construction costs the other half were on the buildings themselves so the section under water was just as expensive as the part we can see. all of them is a spool 100 plots stand on these unique foundations. from the 11th century these architectural masterpieces were built on the constantly moving bed of the lagoon and the sandbags in order to build them the architects had to come up with something special because they faced several times at once. it means providing

protection from the rising and folding some tools or. designing buildings that were as light as possible. and building on a moving substrate. the solution they came up with was brilliant they placed a wooden construction on the piles and weighted down with several layers of bricks . on top of this they built a surround of white stone from history on the adriatic it formed the 1st line of defense against the salt forms. that deals with the interface between the water and that resists an infinitely long time because it's not permeable to the salty water. the resistant strain stone is unaffected by the process and full of the sea levels. the highs of this protective little corresponded to the tidal range in this way the

water was prevented from coming into contact with the most sensitive load bearing brick. the good reason the palaces on the stone base were designed with a maximum of 3 floors. they understood when they were building that they couldn't make it to have a because they knew that it was all relatively friends much into logical times but still compacts and cause the subsidence. slender condoms and large windows in the efforts to build with minimum wage the architects created the special venetian styling and it went into graceful. despite the lightweight construction method by no means had all the challenges been overcome.

more then because the movements of the ground in the water here are so variable the buildings themselves could not be too rigid. but here to the venetians came up with clever solutions like using special regional building materials such as law and mortar. it was used in the construction of the brick wall applied as a cement substitute it has the advantage of remaining flexible. less sure senator. obama long time was probably the most important construction material because of its adaptability it doesn't get as hard as cement architects always wanted to build what they wanted and how they wanted not to be restricted the materials. trying to remain flexible in the future to me the vision done with. that will subside to the flooring between the stories. they used wood which is also flexible material.

another trick and should flexibility with a ball on the floor join. the beams were set in the walls in such a way that they could always move within them. flexible and subtle venetian buildings unlike living organisms which adapted to the vagaries of the moving substrate. today the traces of this constant death taishan are visible in many places in the form of to stores had to sign here and there cracks appear inside the building since well. there will be there have been a couple of instances of subsidence some facades have become distorted until slightly but not one of the venetian palaces has ever collapsed for me to crawl

given. this is architects constructed the buildings so well that they can even withstand the frequent earthquakes in the region. i remember my father in law telling me about when there was the earthquake in for you only in the 1970 something and venice felt the shocks of that very strongly and where we live as very big windows you know with the lead holding the panes of glass and he said that the windows just moved like the sails of a boat and then came back in place not one of those little ping craft can sell out . there is a well. in the courtyard of every plant save by developing a sophisticated system for collecting rainwater venice is brilliant architects solve the problem of the city's drinking water supply. water flowed through these

holes in the ground and into the underground chambers filled with extremely fine sand. up to see think through the sand and the clean water then rose again in a well shaft. in this way they also wanted to conduct the water from the gutters into the wells it really was an ingenious system one unparalleled worldwide in all these wells were still in operation in venice until the early 20th century. every square in the city has a well in all its architects created $900.00. by the late 15th century venice had 170000 inhabitants more than ever before this is he was in its heyday thanks to its powerful fleets of ships built in the new green shipyards

venice dominated comus in the mediterranean region. the city built on water was totally in its element like a fish and water. venetians had created an architectural jewel in the north italian the good. but nature was to turn on them in a dramatic way. as a result of human interference in the green system of channels to facilitate shipping needed dangers began to threaten the blossoming influential city. the earth was having a serious effect on the bed of the lagoon and the title or so levels. the natural balance in the deep blue was under threat.

centuries later venice is still a proud and beautiful city but over the centuries villepin changed completely. shipping traffic and industrial utilization increase dramatically and left their monks in the course of industrialization a 1000 wells was sunk in order to access the groundwater beneath the bed of the lagoon. in the 950 s. up to 40000 cubic meters of water were removed every day. civil engineer ph arrived here teeny describes the consequences for venice these generate a. decrease of the pressure. and when the pressure of the trees in the city mentoring amazing. amazing is these producer compaction else deciding rooms and

a lot of the land surface right now we call it subsidence land subsidence. as a result of this land subsidence venice subsided but 14 centimeters in only 30 years . after a disastrous flood and $966.00 the practice of pumping up the groundwater was discontinued. but the damage to the city is irreparable the last 14 centimeters can never be regained global warming and rising sea levels are increasing the threat and i've already seen the water rise by a further 10 centimeters. in all the water is now $24.00 centimeters higher up on the buildings than at the time they were built and that's it. left visible traces. most of the affected areas can be recognized by the green zones on the buildings this is where the water rises and falls with the time. it's not major floods that

are causing the greatest damage to the city but try to change the sit down some of the water comes and goes incessantly. with each new time to the salt water is now also reaching the bricks another fine the architect centuries old preventative measure has the ring of history in stone can no longer protect the palaces from the ocean. the water is always against the break and the bricks are very hard here and there. are. leaving behind the souls which crystallise and as salts crystallise they expand in the body and 12 times i'm not like is a very kind of slow way you can say exploding brick what.

the sun towards here is also attacking the line most have between the bricks loosening them and weakening the entire building structure. to provide more stability more and more steel barry is having a wreck to in the city's canals. today one in 3 venetian finance is damaged and to meet a friend of a ship. and that is not only the result of the daily tide change motor boats are an even bigger problem they stir up the water above and below the surface. just gave us out of it by the constant boat traffic is very bad for the masonry. the boats propellers churn up the water which edition. only the roads the walls. you know once the masonry has been weakened. the water also impacts the foundations on the ground. a little bit in the boats are always travelling past the building.

it's the number of boats and the frequency of boat traffic that is threatening the walls. the churned up water gets into any cracks in the brickwork and thracians the entire building structure and it also uses the compacted earth between the piles the centuries old foundations on which the building stand in the attempt to limit the damage the city has introduced a speed limit for water taxis. the large cruise ships which head for the diggin every day are a further problem. these big ships roof huge volumes aborter you know that's all communities principle that's still part of the river but the bottom of this is that it's new and when mary and i do that it's all been through narrow the focus of the local level

rises and then goes down again with the powerful to be hit it's like a wash water that moves within you know over tens of seconds or minutes and that's very detrimental to the building foundations. subsidence of the lagoon bed the rise of the water level and the waves created by boats and ships mean that venice is trace him from all sides and. the only way to save the city's valuable buildings is to drain the canals for basic restoration work but that must be done with great care. to. but in the cubicle a lot of the work only takes place and drain sections with a maximum length of a 50 meters. draining the canals leads to a settling of the geological layers and that can result in damage to the

neighboring. so a canal can be drained and are longer than 3 months. today more modern methods are also being applied in order to stabilize the walls chemicals are introduced into the lime mortar. they prevent morsi getting into the bricks all these measures are carried out by hand. that is why restoration work in venice is more expensive than elsewhere at present the city has no more than 2000000 euros a year available for preserving its buildings but the actual something needed is 13000000. the water to which the city owes its uniqueness and its wealth is now turning against the venetians. today one 3rd of the ground fills in venice uninhabitable. and rising water is threatening the buildings more and more often.

global warming which is resulting in a gradual rise in the sea level will intensify this development even more. with the stance of these venice is destined to go under that is not my prediction but that of people who deal professionally with marine and climate issues in the production as being down from the and often essentially the same. from the rise my lets me think 20405060 something needs. to devise a venice no longer seems to be merely a pessimistic scenario. plan so once again the ingenuity of italian i. architects and engineers is called for to save the city. or. the moves

a project is an elaborate and expensive attempt by the italian authorities to say venice. concrete foundations weighing many tons have been sunk at all 3 looking him in let's. get in them or try and flood gates at high walls if these can be raised as far as the water level requires. there is no doubt that if it is ever completed the most a project will be an engineering masterpiece. but skeptical voices warn against euphoria. in most usa the most a project is important but it's not the sole solution but maybe it's inconsistent i believe to want to protect the city from super floods without at the same time protecting it from decay. that is why another idea is to raise the subsided bed of the lagoon and with it the entire city. what sounds like

a crazy plan was developed by researchers at the university and neighboring padua. we could turn wells for. more on our own ass zuko our shape we do know the young author of don't you know me interests and we inject the water into a deep barkley said in arkansas system that if he's located within 601 towel song meter you know the. phone. raising such a huge area with an entire city on it is an ambitious enterprise which no one has ever attempted before the plan is to pump 50 liters of salt water per 2nd thing. the wells and into the substrates over a period of 10 years researchers have calculated the bet of the lagoon could be raised by between 20 and 25 centimeters. the water level in the canals with dancing

but the same amount but the plan is not without risks you cannot do it. in a shorter time we don't want people to generate any any truck sure. and for this reason we have to do to inject the safety rate. raising the bed of the lagoon would recover the last $24.00 centimeters the project is still in the planning stage research is awaiting full funding for the 1st comprehensive tests. a little bit possible to save the masterpieces of venetian architecture from the consequences of human made problems. no one wants to see this city go under venice needs visionaries like those who built it people who will think the impossible in order to achieve something magnificent.

odd. enter the conflict zone with tim sebastian. has been challenging those in power asking tough questions demanding. as conflicts intensify i'll be meeting with kids players on the ground in the suns those of us. cutting through the rhetoric holding the powerful to account for the conflicts. conflicts between sebastian. t.w. . take it personally. with

wonderful stories that make the game so special. for all true fans. because more than football online shows. this is the love ball speaking when i come to the show with the. hot concerts with the mistress guests. credible. coming tonight. 3 weeks w. .

this is. from berlin police in hong kong sealed off a university campus occupied by pro-democracy protesters dozens of activists making a dramatic escape by climbing down from a bridge and speeding away on motorbikes another large group of demonstrators is later seen leaving the site beijing is warning that it could intervene to end the crisis in the city also coming up iran imposes a media blackout after deadly protests against fuel price in.