The Veneto region, in recent years, has financed research to try to solve the problem of coastal erosion in a more durable and economic way than beach nourishment – the displacement of large amounts of sand to plump the beaches.

In the Netherlands, which have the same problem, a huge artificial peninsula near the coast – called the “sand engine” and used as a sand deposit for the coast – was built in 2011 with excellent results.

Veneto is thinking of following the same example, with an artificial island at least 7 kilometers long. Unionmare, the most important association representing the operators of bathing establishments, involved the region to finance a study conducted by the University of Padua and in particular by the Professor of Maritime Construction Piero Ruol, who has been studying the erosion of the Venetian coasts for years.

Cover image is courtesy of dezandmotor.nl.