The knots still to be unravelled

Morandi Bridge, 6 years ago the tragedy that cost 43 people their lives

The trial, which is still ongoing, reveals the responsibilities of those who were in charge of managing the bridge. The role of Autostrade per l'Italia and the top management of the Benetton group (who were shareholders through Atlantia)

by Raoul de Forcade

14 August 2024

4' min read

Key points

Maintenance under indictment
Process and responsibility
The commemoration
The victims' relatives: "A pain that will never pass"

4' min read

It was 11.36 a.m. on 14 August 2018 when, on a mid-August eve when Genoa was lashed by heavy rain, suddenly, with a roar, pile 9 of the viaduct over the Polcevera, built by engineer Riccardo Morandi (1902-1989) and inaugurated in 1967, collapsed, taking with it about 250 metres of carriageway.

The bridge fell down like paper, under the astonished gaze of all the people who happened to be looking in that direction, many of whom even managed to film the stages of the collapse, because they were recording the rain and lightning on the viaduct spans with their mobile phones. A tragedy that extinguished, in an instant, the existence of 43 people.

From that moment on, Genoa has never been the same. That viaduct, considered an example of great architecture, and called, almost affectionately, the Brooklyn Bridge, by the citizens, suddenly became the tragic model of everything that goes wrong in Italy.

Maintenance under indictment

The collapse of the bridge led to the closure to traffic of the link between the A7 and A10 motorways, and numerous roads below, as well as the railway line connecting with the port of Genoa, and the need to evacuate 566 residents for precautionary reasons. But, above all, the management of the infrastructure by the concessionaire, Autostrade per l'Italia, and its subsidiary Spea, in charge of the viaduct's maintenance, ended up under indictment.

While Genoa, under the leadership of two extraordinary commissioners appointed by the government - the then President of the Region, Giovanni Toti, appointed for the emergency, and the mayor, Marco Bucci, appointed for the reconstruction - was trying to figure out how to get back on its feet in a hurry, Aspi and its entire management ended up under investigation and then sent for trial: 59 people, including the resigning CEO, Giovanni Castellucci. The crimes charged against those involved are, variously, road homicide, multiple culpable homicide, forgery, endangering transport safety and wilful removal of safety devices in the workplace.

Process and Responsibility

From the trial that is still ongoing, the responsibilities of those who were in charge of the management of the bridge emerge. Autostrade per l'Italia and the top management of the Benetton group (who were shareholders through Atlantia), according to what Gianni Mion, former CEO of Edizione (the Benetton holding company) and former board member of Atlantia, said during a hearing in 2023, knew 'since 2010' that the Morandi bridge 'was in danger of collapsing'. The defence of the defendants, on the other hand, supports the thesis of structural defects in the structure. Whether the convictions will come is all to be seen.

Meanwhile, however, Genoa has managed to move on. 'The city,' Bucci said during the commemoration of the collapse last year, 'took a big slap in the face with the collapse of the Morandi and its 43 victims, who will never be forgotten. But after this slap Genoa woke up and rose again'.

It's true: thanks to the so-called Genoa decree (dl 109/2018), which conferred relief funds on the city (to which were then added those of the Pnrr) and very broad powers to the commissioner for reconstruction, the Ligurian capital has restarted and has never stopped running. Starting with the new San Giorgio bridge, designed by Renzo Piano and built in 18 months by Webuild and Fincantieri.

The commemoration

Today, 14 August 2024, six years after the collapse, Genoa is preparing to commemorate once again the 43 victims of that terrible day. At 9 a.m., in the parish church of San Bartolomeo della Certosa, a mass will be celebrated by the Archbishop of Genoa, Monsignor Marco Tasca.

At 10.45 am, in the Radura della memoria, near the bridge, the ceremony in memory of those who died under the rubble will begin. There will be, among others, the mayor Bucci, the interim president of the Liguria Region, Alessandro Piana, and the deputy minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Edoardo Rixi, delegated by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. At the entrance to the clearing, where the metal plate with the names of all the victims is located, wreaths will be placed by the President of the Republic, the Presidency of the Senate, the Presidency of the Council and relatives of the victims. And at 11.36 a minute's silence is planned.

Victims' relatives: 'A pain that will never pass'

On 14 November 2024, on the other hand, the inauguration of the Memorial is expected (unless postponed for the regional elections, ndr), in the area of the former Morandi pile 9, a place of remembrance, both private and collective, and of 'documentation and public denunciation', explained the architect Stefano Boeri, who signed the project.

"It is always a very complicated anniversary," Egle Possetti, spokesperson for the Committee in memory of the Morandi Bridge victims, said yesterday, "a pain that is renewed and can never pass. In short, the hope is in the fact that we are in the most important stages (of the trial, ndr) and then we will be able to reach the first instance verdict'.

Raoul de Forcaderedattore
Luogo: Genova
Lingue parlate: italiano, inglese
Argomenti: shipping, nautica, economia, finanza.
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