Lagoon barriers to save Venice

ROME -- After more than 12 years of debate and discord, Italy approved a plan Thursday to save Venice from sinking by installing mobile barriers to protect the fabled city from high tides.

The project, approved at a Cabinet meeting, will take about eight years and $2.6 billion to complete. It is called Moses after the Biblical figure who led his people safely through the Red Sea.

Venice Mayor Paola Costa applauded the decision, saying the government had "finally set out a systematic plan for saving the city and the lagoon."

The barriers would be erected on the Adriatic seabed near the entrance to the Venetian lagoon. They would be raised only when high tides threaten the city -- an increasingly frequent problem.