Engineering Experts Knew Italian Bridge Had Corrosion Problems Before It Collapsed, Report Says (apnews.com)

McGruber shares a report: Engineering experts determined in February that corrosion of the metal cables supporting the Genoa highway bridge had reduced the bridge's strength by 20 percent -- a finding that came months before it collapsed last week, Italian media reported Monday. Despite the findings, newsmagazine Espresso wrote that "neither the ministry, nor the highway company, ever considered it necessary to limit traffic, divert heavy trucks, reduce the roadway from two to one lanes or reduce the speed" of vehicles on the key artery for the northern port city. A large section of the Morandi Bridge collapsed Aug. 14 during a heavy downpour, killing 43 people and forcing the evacuation of more than 600 people living in apartment buildings beneath another section of the bridge.

Comments

Re:Like many other things in Italy

[Anonymous Coward]

The bridge was in constant need of repairs throughout its lifetime

That's basically true of every large bridge on Earth. This particular bridge was a POS from inception, but the fact that it needed constant repair and maintenance isn't informative.

Then one day, they decided to go fully private ( i.e. giving it to other "friends" )

But I though Italy was "socialist." I've been told many times Italy is "socialist" and is much better than USA and so this kind of failure can't happen because the smart "socialists" are handling everything.