Bricolas Replaced--Progress?

News today from BuonoGiorno Venezia (www.veniceworld.com): The traditional "bricola" -- the wooden post used for moorings and to mark channels in Venice's canals -- will slowly disappear. A new kind of "bricola" has been invented by a Venetian entrepreneur, and it has already passed all the authorization tests. The new "bricola" is an iron pole covered with high-density polyurethane that expands and contracts in the same way as the traditional oak or false acacia that has been used for centuries. Yet the steel and polyurethane poles last eight times longer since they're not subject to rot or insect infestation. The economic advantage will be sizeable -- the wooden "bricole" have to be replaced every few years and Venice is home to (and responsible for) about two million of them.