New ecological resins that can help preserve Venice from floods have been showcased at the D-Nest International Inventors Exhibition in the Lagoon city.
The anti-infiltration resins can preserve the Lagoon city during 'acqua alta', high tides that flood it, making more water resistant and consolidating walls, and the foundations of buildings, docks and monuments.
They can also be used inland to protect railway lines, tunnels, galleries and dams.
The resins are among many inventions born out of a passion, a hobby or a bet that were exhibited at Venice's PalaExpo at the weekend.
"The resins are made with polyurethane and, once injected, solidify when in contact (with fresh or salt water)," explained inventor Roberto Padoan, a 57-year-old Venetian who has been working for decades in the lagoon as an underwater technical operator.
"My office is in my head, when I see a problem I immediately try to find a way to solve it", he said.
After obtaining a patent for a filtering system to clean lagoon water from silt and make it transparent for maintenance work, he came up with the idea of resins.
"They can be used as material to fill up and consolidate structures, or to make them water-resistant", he said, citing stilts that are constantly threatened by erosion created by boat-generated waves.
The resins are now being used for the first time in the lagoon city and Padoan said he is not concerned by upcoming high tides during the fall and winter months.
"The resins work: I just received a message confirming this, sent by a hotelier with whom we have recently worked", he said.
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