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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.
If corrosion weekend the cables by 20% of so, it seems like the original design didn't leave nearly enough margin for error!
I imagine they were not as concerned with 20% weakening thinking they had much more leeway.
It’s not just that, the bridge was hopelessly overloaded by traffic. There is a longstanding bypass project which has been fiercely opposed by the Five Star Movement for years. The Five Star Movement’s leaders, who now run Italy, actually cracked jokes about warnings that this bridge might collapse at regular intervals since the first warnings in 2012 or 2013. They are now trying to blame the EU (which gave them money for infrastructure sanitation) for the whole ugly mess.
If the bridge was only over-engineered by 20%, then it would be a disaster to keep using it.
It seems like the engineers have been opposed to this bridge design from the beginning, pointing out the impending disaster since 2012, and advising limiting traffic and building an alternate route. But good luck getting politicians in a democracy to spend money on infrastructure (even when given money by the EU specifically for infrastructure).
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
One article I read said there was a good likelihood the bridge was constructed using less concrete than specified, because the mafia was heavily involved in bidding for these projects at the time. One of their favorite ways to win low bids for construction was skimping on the concrete used.
The bridge's sorry state was known years ago. A certain political party used the "environmentalist" demagoguery to keep the status quo.
And now the same people are blaming the company that built and maintained the structure:
Because the government is so good at everything...
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
It was designed by Calatrava
The Ponte Morandi bears the name of its designer:
Riccardo Morandi
"Bridges by Morandi have proved to require extensive maintenance and repairs over the years to pass bridge safety inspections. The third span of Ponte Morandi collapsed in Genoa, on 14 August 2018, causing 43 fatalities."
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