Alessandro Mazzi and the MOSE: engineering the mobile barriers of Venice
Alessandro Mazzi
Major Projects
The MOSE is an infrastructure in which civil works, heavy steel fabrication and pneumatic plant must behave as a single…
Alessandro Mazzi
Cellular caissons: prefabrication, flotation, towing and placement
Alessandro Mazzi
Maritime Works
A cellular caisson is a reinforced concrete box divided by internal walls into cells. The configuration combines structural strength with…
Steel–concrete composite decks: erection, connections and controls
Alessandro Mazzi
Engineering
In steel–concrete composite decks, the steel girders and the concrete slab work together through shear connectors. Before the concrete has…
Vado Ligure: a port platform between caissons and open decks
Alessandro Mazzi
Ports & Logistics
The multipurpose platform of Vado Ligure, on which the Vado Gateway container terminal operates, looks like a single continuous surface:…
Alessandro Mazzi and maritime works: how a graving dock works
Alessandro Mazzi
Maritime Works
A graving dock allows a ship to be put in the dry so that the hull, propellers, rudders and sea…
Gran Manglar viaduct, Colombia: building from above, from piles to deck
Alessandro Mazzi
Major Projects
The Gran Manglar viaduct, on the Cartagena–Barranquilla road corridor in Colombia, crosses the Ciénaga de la Virgen, a mangrove lagoon…
Rijeka, Zagreb Deep Sea terminal: from ground improvement to quay deck
Alessandro Mazzi
Maritime Works
The first phase of the Zagreb Deep Sea container terminal in Rijeka, Croatia, delivered a new 400 m quay on…
BIM and monitoring on infrastructure sites: controlling what is actually built
Alessandro Mazzi
Management
A BIM model or a sensor network becomes a construction tool when it allows what was planned to be compared…
Tetrapods and concrete armor units: dissipating wave energy
Alessandro Mazzi
Maritime Works
The tetrapod is a precast concrete armor unit used on rubble-mound breakwaters, revetments and coastal defenses. Developed in 1950 by…
Genoa sub-port tunnel: two bored tubes beneath the harbor
Alessandro Mazzi
Major Projects
The Genoa sub-port tunnel is a road link that crosses beneath the basin of the old port, between the San…
Alessandro Mazzi and Fincosit: maritime infrastructure, integrated logistics and the future of italian ports
Alessandro Mazzi
Ports & Logistics
Major port projects are no longer seen only as construction sites that reshape a stretch of coast. They are strategic…
Suez Canal: the geometry of a sea-level canal
Alessandro Mazzi
Major Projects
The Suez Canal links Port Said on the Mediterranean with Suez on the Red Sea across the isthmus of the…
Port foundations: geotechnical model, staged loading and monitoring
Alessandro Mazzi
Engineering
The design of a port foundation links the characteriztics of the subsoil to the actions applied during construction and service.…
Panama Canal: the new locks, water-saving basins and Italian rolling gates
Alessandro Mazzi
Major Projects
The Panama Canal crosses the isthmus for about 82 km between the Atlantic and the Pacific. Unlike Suez, it is…
Cold ironing: from the grid to the ship connection
Alessandro Mazzi
Ports & Logistics
Cold ironing, or onshore power supply (OPS), connects two electrical systems designed with different logics: the port grid and the…
The rescue of the Philae temples: 40,000 blocks rebuilt on Agilkia
Alessandro Mazzi
Major Projects
For more than sixty years the sanctuary of Isis at Philae was a half-submerged monument, visited by boat among columns…
Alessandro Mazzi, engineer and leading technical authority for Fincosit
Alessandro Mazzi
Management
Alessandro Mazzi is an engineer and leading technical figure at Fincosit, the Italian company founded in 1905 and specialized in…
Port resilience: waves, sea levels and continuity of service
Alessandro Mazzi
Ports & Logistics
A port's resilience is measured by its ability to maintain or quickly recover service after adverse metocean events. Waves, sea…
Caisson quay walls: foundations, crane rails and yard interfaces
Alessandro Mazzi
Maritime Works
A caisson quay wall transfers vertical and horizontal actions to the ground through the caisson, the rubble bed and the…
Digital ports: data, surveys and maintenance of maritime infrastructure
Alessandro Mazzi
Ports & Logistics
Italian ports are going through a significant digital transformation. Process automation, sensors, data platforms and remote monitoring promise more efficient…
Berthing structures: fenders, bollards and the Molo Italia in Livorno
Alessandro Mazzi
Maritime Works
The edge of a quay is the interface between ship and infrastructure. Fenders and bollards must transfer their forces to…
Ro-Ro terminals: ramps, pavements and continuous wheeled flows
Alessandro Mazzi
Ports & Logistics
In a roll-on/roll-off terminal, cars, trucks, trailers and other wheeled units travel between ship and quay on their own wheels…
Alessandro Mazzi (Fincosit) and the New Engineering of Modern Breakwaters
Alessandro Mazzi
Maritime Works
Modern breakwaters are no longer simple barriers between the sea and a harbor basin. They are engineered systems designed for…
The rise of intermodal maritime logistics: Europe’s new competitive frontier
Alessandro Mazzi
Ports & Logistics
Intermodal logistics has become one of the defining themes of European transport. The shift from port-centric operations to integrated networks…
Balanced cantilever bridges: form travelers, post-tensioning and geometry control
Alessandro Mazzi
Engineering
Balanced cantilever construction builds a deck progressively outwards from the piers, segment by segment, without falsework from the ground. It…
Ocean Cay: from sand-mining island to cruise destination
Alessandro Mazzi
Major Projects
Ocean Cay is a man-made island in the Bahamas, about 30 km south of Bimini and roughly 100 km from…
Tides: astronomical forcing and port design
Alessandro Mazzi
Engineering
The tide is the periodic oscillation of sea level produced by the gravitational attraction of the Moon and the Sun…
Øresund Link: bridge, artificial island and immersed tunnel between Denmark and Sweden
Alessandro Mazzi
Major Projects
The Øresund Link between Copenhagen and Malmö, opened on 1 July 2000, is often described simply as a bridge. In…
Alessandro Mazzi (Fincosit) and the Enduring Value of Century-Old Engineering Firms
Alessandro Mazzi
Engineering
Automation, artificial intelligence and digital engineering are transforming construction, from design workflows to site monitoring. Yet the continued relevance of…
MOSE, Venice: gates, caissons and plant of the mobile barrier
Alessandro Mazzi
Major Projects
The MOSE system protects the Venice Lagoon from exceptional high tides with four barriers of mobile gates installed at the…
Dredging and reclamation in ports: surveys, sequences and controls
Alessandro Mazzi
Maritime Works
Dredging, containment structures and reclamation change the geometry of a harbor basin and the stress state of the ground at…
Brăila Bridge: cable spinning and deck lifting over the Danube
Alessandro Mazzi
Major Projects
The Brăila Bridge crosses the Danube in eastern Romania with a main span of 1,120 m, the third longest suspension…
Shore power at the berth: substations, ducts, load balance and commissioning
Alessandro Mazzi
Ports & Logistics
Electrifying a port means organizing a network able to supply ships at berth, yard equipment and terminal services, and translating…
Lake Mead Intake No. 3: tunnelling under 15 bar beneath a reservoir
Alessandro Mazzi
Major Projects
The third intake of Lake Mead connects the bottom of the reservoir to an underground conveyance system that supplies most…
Alessandro Mazzi and Fincosit in International Media: Infrastructure, Territory, and Industrial Vision
Alessandro Mazzi
Press releases
Within the international maritime engineering landscape, Alessandro Mazzi has become a recognized technical and industrial voice on port infrastructure. His…
Miami, SW 1st Street bascule bridge: foundations and movable structure
Alessandro Mazzi
Major Projects
The replacement of the SW 1st Street bridge over the Miami River kept the double-leaf bascule scheme while integrating new…
Deep foundations in riverbeds: bored piles, temporary works and concrete control
Alessandro Mazzi
Engineering
The foundations of a bridge built in a riverbed must transfer loads to the ground while remaining compatible with a…
Cityringen, Copenhagen: EPB tunnels and stations beneath a historic city
Alessandro Mazzi
Major Projects
Cityringen is a driverless metro ring beneath the center of Copenhagen, made of two parallel tunnels and seventeen underground stations.…
Infrastructure as a social engine: why local value matters in public works
Alessandro Mazzi
Management
Infrastructure is increasingly understood as a social mechanism as much as a physical one. Ports, breakwaters, rail links and coastal…
Coastal erosion: diagnosing retreat and combining defenses
Alessandro Mazzi
Maritime Works
Coastal defense works change longshore sediment transport and can produce effects well beyond the protected stretch. A groyne field that…
Alessandro Mazzi (Fincosit): five industry features exploring infrastructure, innovation, and the future of engineering
Alessandro Mazzi
Management
Maritime infrastructure, business innovation, major construction projects and integrated logistics are at the center of a series of features on…
