The Anniversary of A Disaster: Morandi Bridge Collapse

14 August 2018 at about 11:30 AM Genoa, Italy time, the Morandi Bridge collapsed, killing 43 people. What follows has been shamelessly stolen from myself, with some edits, from around the time the replacement bridge was completed.

Everything Needs Maintenance. What caused the Genoa bridge collapse – and the end of an Italian national myth? The image is of the bridge, before the collapse. (Click the image, for a larger view, and background info. Image by Davide Papalini)

Construction was from 1963 through 1967. It collapsed on August 14th, 2018.

43 people died. 600 people were made homeless.

The day in question was a stormy, summer day.

By 11.30am, the rain was so heavy that visibility had fallen dramatically. Videos captured by security cameras show vehicles slowing down as they crossed Morandi Bridge, which grew progressively more enveloped in a grey mist.

A few minutes later, a 200-metre section of the bridge collapsed, including one of its three supporting towers.

Click the link at the top of this post for an image of the bridge after the collapse.

Reinforced concrete deck, and prestressed concrete wrapping the cables of what otherwise looked like a typical suspension bridge. (Think Brooklyn Bridge.) But maintenance of the bridge wasn’t a high priority thing.

A documentary found problems in the 1990s. Riccardo Morandi, the designer, created a list of things to-do to prolong the life of the bridge. Nothing was done.

Aside from the lack of maintenance, there was an increase in the load on the bridge, which is probably a message for engineers, that things should be overbuilt, because you don’t know what the future will bring.

Little, however, was done, and by 1992 the trademark concrete cables were heavily corroded. The company that managed the bridge, Autostrade per l’Italia – then owned by the state – decided to add extra new cables around the corroded ones, rather than replace them. It also neglected to retrofit the remaining two sets.

That led to the collapse on the stormy August morning.

About a year later, the remains of the bridge were demolished. See Genoa’s Morandi Bridge demolished in dramatic explosion. (Explosive demolition is always a fascinating video!)

So why did the bridge collapse?

Instead, it was probably simple neglect that felled the bridge. In April 2018, Autostrade – now a private company – finally decided there was no more time to waste, and issued a tender offer to retrofit the bridge. The repairs were supposed to start last autumn.

“They waited 25 years and then the bridge collapsed. This is how things go in Italy – you start something and you never finish it,” says Saggio.

A replacement bridge was designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano. It was finished in 2 years by construction crews working 24/7. They only stopped for Christmas and bad weather. (The bridge deck is about 45 meters above the ground.) Here is a link to a short video on the construction of the new bridge. I know it is basically an advert for the construction company involved, but my favorite video of the construction is no longer on YT, and most of the videos are in Italian.