A section of the collapsed bridge in Genoa“That bridge is wrong. Sooner or later it will have to be replaced''
Just two-years ago, an Italian engineering professor appeared to predict the Morandi Bridge disaster... when he said it would be cheaper to just build a new one.
The Guardian is reporting that at least 39-people were killed with more injured after the highway bridge, in the northern port city of Genoa, suddenly collapsed.
In 2016, Antonio Brencich, associate professor of civil engineering at the University of Genoa, warned it would cost more to repair the “uneven” construction, rather than just knock the bridge down.
He said maintenance costs “are so exorbitant that it would be cheaper to build a new one.”
“The Morandi Bridge is referred to as a masterpiece of engineering. In reality it is a bankruptcy,” he said in an interview with Italian TV channel primocanale.it. “That bridge is wrong. Sooner or later it will have to be replaced. I do not know when.
“But there will be a time when maintenance costs will exceed those of reconstruction, and then we will have to proceed with the replacement.”
The exact cause of the collapse remains unknown.
Genoa Mayor Marco Bucci surprisingly told CNN the collapse was “not absolutely unexpected.”
“(It’s a) very bad time with the collapsing of the bridge which was not absolutely unexpected. But we don’t know the reason,” he said.
“My role as the mayor is to make sure we have the correct infrastructure for the city and make sure that from the government we get the right amount of money in order to be able to set up the new infrastructure as soon as possible.”
Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli said it was “unacceptable” and that “whoever made a mistake must pay,” assuming negligence was in fact the cause of the tragedy.
