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Saint Petersburg Dam
This huge sluice gate on the St Petersburg Dam can be closed within 45 minutes when there is any danger of flooding caused by a storm surge funnelling the waters of the Baltic into the large Neva Bay so causing the massive River Neva to back up.  With the dire warnings of climate change and a further rise in sea level and storms, there are worries that the complex of dams for flood control will be inadequate to protect St Petersburg from more flooding.   The city was built on drained marshland and islands in the estuary of the Neva and has always been vulnerable to frequent flooding with over 300 recorded since it was built just over 300 years ago.  Work started on building a dam for flood prevention in 1980 but was halted due to the political and economic situation in the 1990s before resuming in 2005 and completed in 2011.  Six sluices and two navigational channels have been built into the series of 8 m high dams which stretch for over 25 km with a six lane highway on top and an undersea tunnel, the entrance of which is just visible in the photo, on the island of Kronstadt which lies at the centre of the dam.  Already there have been fourteen times when the sluices have had to be closed.  There are several very good photos in this newspaper link.

With predictions of a sea rise this century of a metre or even more, the people are very worried, not only for their city of over 5 million, but also for the UNESCO World Heritage site which includes such buildings as those in the extras.   For many of the millions in the world who live close to sea level it really is a great cause for concern.

A few extras taken during our two day visit to St Petersburg.

EDIT;  According to the link the article doesn't exist, but I have successfully opened it just now.  If you are interested google "St Petersburg Dam" the Moscow Times article)