Italy motorway bridge collapses over Genoa, 'dozens' feared dead

[endicom]

Reuters
Reuters Staff
Aug. 14, 2018

ROME (Reuters) - A motorway bridge collapsed on Tuesday over the northern Italian port city of Genoa in what the transport minister said was likely to be “an immense tragedy”.

The head of the local ambulance service said there were “dozens of dead”, Italian news agency Adnkronos reported.

More... https://www.reuters.com/article/us-italy-motorway-collapse/italy-motorway-bridge-collapses-near-genoa-so-far-no-victims-reported-idUSKBN1KZ14G

[mountaineer]

Before and after pics

A motorway bridge has collapsed near Genoa, Italy.

Dozens are feared dead in the accident according to the Italian news agency Adnkronos and local ambulance services.

A 200-metre section of the Morandi Bridge, part of the A10 motorway, fell during a fierce storm. ... More at Euro News

[TomSea]

Italian bridge collapses in Genoa, killing at least 11, reports say
Katherine Lam


Several vehicles were involved in the bridge collapse.  (AP)

At least 11 people -- including a child -- were reportedly killed when a raised highway in Genoa crumbled during a sudden and violent storm, sending several vehicles plunging to the ground as rescuers desperately searched for survivors.

Italian news agency ANSA, citing the Interior Ministry, said at least five people were injured in the incident that Italy's transport minister Danilo Toninelli said was likely "an enormous tragedy."

About a 650-foot section of the Morandi bridge, part of the A10 highway that connects Italy to France, collapsed over an industrial zone just after 12 p.m. local time, private broadcaster Sky TG24 said. About 20 vehicles were involved, firefighter Amalia Tedeschi told RAI state TV.

Read more at: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2018/08/14/italian-bridge-collapses-police-say.html

[thackney]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/08/14/italy-bridge-collapse-genoa/984698002/

[thackney]

...Video footage appears to show one of the towers holding up the suspension bridge collapsing in stormy weather....

...The collapsed section had mostly fallen on to rail tracks below, officials told AFP news agency, adding that cars and trucks had also fallen....

...The Morandi Bridge, built in the 1960s, stands on the A10 toll motorway. The missing section was dozens of metres in length, and ran across the span of the Polcevera river....

...The structure collapsed around 11:30 local time (09:30 GMT) during heavy rain.

"It was just after 11:30 when we saw lightning strike the bridge," eyewitness Pietro M all'Asa was quoted as saying by Italy's Ansa news agency. "And we saw the bridge going down."...

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45183624

[thackney]

...The Polcevera viaduct of the A10 motorway, called the Ponte Morandi bridge, crosses the Polcevera stream in Genoa between the districts of Sampierdarena and Cornigliano.

The elevated road is located over a river, railroad tracks and buildings and the highway is a major artery to the Italian Riviera and to France's southern coast.

The bridge, designed by the engineer Riccardo Morandi, was built between 1963 and 1967 by the Italian Society for Water Pipelines.

On September 4, 1967, the bridge was inaugurated in the presence of the President of the Republic Giuseppe Saragat.

The bridge has a length of 1,102 meters, a height at the road level of 45 meters and 3 reinforced concrete piers reaching 90 meters in height.

The Ponte Morandi bridge is a beamed bridge, where the vertical elements are trestles made up of two superimposed Vs.

Restructuring work on the bridge was carried out in 2016.

According to a source, "work was underway to consolidate the viaduct slab and, as planned, a bridge crane had been installed to allow maintenance activities to take place".

The highway operator said work to shore up the foundation of the bridge was being carried out at the time of the collapse.

But he added the bridge was being constantly monitored while work was being carried out.

He said: "The work and the status of the viaduct were subject to constant observation and supervision by the Tronco Management of Genoa.

"The causes of the collapse will be analyzed in depth as soon as it will be possible to safely access the places...

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1003224/Genoa-bridge-collapse-news-Ponte-Morandi-bridge-when-built-how-tall-Italy-news

[TomSea]

Some pictures make it look like it was a bridge under construction.


http://www.rainews.it/dl/rainews/articoli/Crolla-ponte-su-autostrada-a-Genova-dbcb90af-c0fd-40ea-933a-002262f65fd4.html

20 confirmed deaths. That certainly is a good length of bridge.  It is likely to get worse.

[endicom]

"It was just after 11:30 when we saw lightning strike the bridge," eyewitness Pietro M all'Asa was quoted as saying by Italy's Ansa news agency. "And we saw the bridge going down."...

This should be of interest everywhere. Can lightning detach the cables(?) from a tower to cause a collapse?

[GtHawk]

At least 11 people -- including a child -- were reportedly killed when a raised highway in Genoa crumbled during a sudden and violent storm, sending several vehicles plunging to the ground as rescuers desperately searched for survivors.

Prayers for all involved, but I can't help wondering how long until the Gaia worshipers crawl out of their holes to blame this on anthropomorphic global warming.

[Fishrrman]

Looking at the pic posted above of the bridge before it fell.

I'm not a structural engineer, but something about that one just doesn't look "robust enough" to me...

Of course, when I think about "bridges", it's this one that comes to mind:


Ran freight and passenger trains over that for most of my career.

[Gefn]

Prayers. A child died. Poor thing.

[thackney]

Revealed: Experts warned two years ago that 50-year-old 'uneven' Genoa bridge should be demolished because no one would pay for its 'exorbitant' maintenance - as Transport Minister says those responsible for 35 deaths 'will have to pay'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6059617/Is-cost-cutting-blame-deadly-Italy-bridge-collapse.html

...the structure of the Morandi Bridge, using two types of reinforced concrete, had caused issues over the decades and required expensive maintenance.

In the early 1990s, the suspension cables along the bridge had to be replaced, and further restructuring work was carried out in 2016.

In 2016, Antonio Brencich, associate professor of civil engineering at the University of Genoa warned that the Morandi Bridge's maintenance costs 'are so exorbitant that it would be cheaper to build a new one'.

In the article, quoted by Il Tempo, Professor Brencich says issues with the bridge being uneven and 'semi-horizontal' had plagued the construction since the early 1980s.

In December 2016, Genoan newspaper Il Secolo XIX claimed maintenance of bridges in the area had been lacking funds because authorities 'preferred to allocate more funds to new works'.

The paper accused officials in the Liguria region of only making important restorations when issues with bridges had become obvious....

[endicom]

Revealed: Experts warned two years ago that 50-year-old 'uneven' Genoa bridge should be demolished because no one would pay for its 'exorbitant' maintenance - as Transport Minister says those responsible for 35 deaths 'will have to pay'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6059617/Is-cost-cutting-blame-deadly-Italy-bridge-collapse.html

...the structure of the Morandi Bridge, using two types of reinforced concrete, had caused issues over the decades and required expensive maintenance.

In the early 1990s, the suspension cables along the bridge had to be replaced, and further restructuring work was carried out in 2016.

In 2016, Antonio Brencich, associate professor of civil engineering at the University of Genoa warned that the Morandi Bridge's maintenance costs 'are so exorbitant that it would be cheaper to build a new one'.

In the article, quoted by Il Tempo, Professor Brencich says issues with the bridge being uneven and 'semi-horizontal' had plagued the construction since the early 1980s.

In December 2016, Genoan newspaper Il Secolo XIX claimed maintenance of bridges in the area had been lacking funds because authorities 'preferred to allocate more funds to new works'.

The paper accused officials in the Liguria region of only making important restorations when issues with bridges had become obvious....

So the bridge sucked and then sucked more.

[thackney]

So the bridge sucked and then sucked more.

It has been expensive.  But it was carrying more traffic than it was designed to carry more than 50 years ago.

Bridges do have required maintenance and a lifespan. 

[mountaineer]

The white coffin of Genoa
Rémi Banet
Tuesday 21 August 2018

Genoa -- When news broke that part of the A10 highway bridge had collapsed in Genoa, I knew exactly which one it was. Although I never knew the Morandi Bridge by its name, I’ve driven on it countless times, on the way to visit my mother’s family in a village north of Naples. I was always struck by how the behemoth cut  its way through the rooftops of the city.  ...

The first and only time I cry during the trip -- the first time that I've ever cried while on a reporting assignment -- is on my last day in the city. Funeral day. It’s Saturday, a day of mourning in the city. The funerals take place in an exposition parc that on this occasion assumes the air of a cathedral.

A man dressed in gray passes by me, clutching a wooden frame with a photograph of a smiling man inside. No doubt one of the 43 victims of the “cursed bridge.”

A couple have come to say goodbye to a childhood friend. “He was working under the bridge when it collapsed,” the woman says. “That day was supposed to be his day off. But since the weather was bad, he decided to go to work, saying he’d take a day off when it was nice out.”  ...

Full article at AFP plus some touching photos.

[thackney]

THE Italian engineer who designed the Genoa bridge that collapsed, killing dozens of people, warned four decades ago that it would require constant maintenance to remove rust given the effects of corrosion from sea air and pollution.

https://www.news.com.au/world/europe/bridge-designer-warned-of-risk-of-collapse-decades-ago/news-story/aaede70a419bff54d6f4516ba216cfa3

...RAI state television broadcast excerpts on Sunday of the report that engineer Riccardo Morandi penned in 1979, 12 years after the bridge bearing his name was inaugurated in Genoa.

At the time, Mr Morandi said there was already a “well-known loss of superficial chemical resistance of the concrete” because of sea air and pollution from a nearby steel plant.

Mr Morandi reaffirmed the soundness of the bridge design but warned: “Sooner or later, maybe in a few years, it will be necessary to resort to a treatment consisting of the removal of all traces of rust.”...

...The Morandi viaduct dates from the 1960s and has been riddled with structural problems for decades, leading to expensive maintenance and criticism from engineering experts.

The company’s boss Giovanni Castellucci said it would take eight months to build a new steel bridge in place of what was left of the viaduct....

[endicom]

THE Italian engineer who designed the Genoa bridge that collapsed, killing dozens of people, warned four decades ago that it would require constant maintenance to remove rust given the effects of corrosion from sea air and pollution.

https://www.news.com.au/world/europe/bridge-designer-warned-of-risk-of-collapse-decades-ago/news-story/aaede70a419bff54d6f4516ba216cfa3

...RAI state television broadcast excerpts on Sunday of the report that engineer Riccardo Morandi penned in 1979, 12 years after the bridge bearing his name was inaugurated in Genoa.

At the time, Mr Morandi said there was already a “well-known loss of superficial chemical resistance of the concrete” because of sea air and pollution from a nearby steel plant.

Mr Morandi reaffirmed the soundness of the bridge design but warned: “Sooner or later, maybe in a few years, it will be necessary to resort to a treatment consisting of the removal of all traces of rust.”...

Relying on future diligence is folly. My guess is that Morandi gave them what they ordered and that they should have ordered something different.

[mountaineer]

The article I posted above (The White Coffin of Genoa) mentions that this wasn't the only viaduct-bridge like this with houses and businesses underneath. There's a video of one fellow pointing out that he probably can't sell his home now, but he sure doesn't want to live under such a bridge with this risk of failure.

[thackney]

Relying on future diligence is folly. My guess is that Morandi gave them what they ordered and that they should have ordered something different.

It is the reality of most pieces of equipment, some maintenance is required.

And the ones in charge of the construction budget have different priorities than the ones in charge of the maintenance budget.

I've made a lot of money over the years doing emergency repairs/replacement from people that didn't provide enough maintenance, or the budget to make it happen.

[endicom]

It is the reality of most pieces of equipment, some maintenance is required.

But not this much.

I have a picture of post-war Italy straining to rebuild but on a shoestring. So they do what they can regardless of the wisdom in doing it.

[dfwgator]

But not this much.

I have a picture of post-war Italy straining to rebuild but on a shoestring. So they do what they can regardless of the wisdom in doing it.

The definition of "Hell"

- The food is British
- The cars are French
- The police are German

...and the whole thing is run by Italians.

[truth_seeker]

The definition of "Hell"

- The food is British
- The cars are French
- The police are German

...and the whole thing is run by Italians.

My motto:


Italian women

German cars

Mexican food

Irish music

I drove several stetches of the Autostrada in Italy years ago and it was amazing hoow they spanned valleys with bridges, and went through mountains with tunnels.

Flat and therefore very fast.

[Bigun]

The definition of "Hell"

- The food is British
- The cars are French
- The police are German

...and the whole thing is run by Italians.

  

[endicom]

I drove several stetches of the Autostrada in Italy years ago and it was amazing hoow they spanned valleys with bridges, and went through mountains with tunnels.

As our troops discovered, Italy is mountainous and can get cold.