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Wood you believe it: Venice goes plastic
23.10.09
Venice is set to lose its trademark striped wooden mooring poles and canal markers as they are swapped for plastic ones, ending a 600-year-old tradition.
Officials estimate that there are more than 90,000 of the posts dotted around the islands and canals which link the city.
Switching to plastic will save the cash-strapped council millions in replacement costs.
Reader views (1)
How very sad. They only have to replace a few every year and elsewhere companies like BT in the UK must replace telegraph poles at a far greater rate and that is economic for BT so how come this is somehow uneconomic for Venice? I have watched these poles being replaced in Venice and seen the time it takes BT to do the same. They seem very similar to me. I can see that the tripod pole arrangements will be more complicated but so they will with plastic. Sounds like Venice needs to buy in the forward wood market!
- Patrick, St Albans, UK
