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:The other mistake

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks, I actually did skim through the article for something like that but missed a Wiki link if it was there. I wonder how many other bridges are under-designed and just waiting to spring... You'd hope governments around the world would take events like this as a wake-up call to pay more attention to assessments.

America's bridges are safe. President Obama spent $1 trillion on shovel-ready projects to fix all our infrastructure issues.