Transport officials were warned over Genoa bridge 6 months ago
Italian government knew of structure’s weaknesses before collapse but did nothing to limit traffic
Italian transport ministry officials were warned of weaknesses in Morandi bridge in Genoa, six months before the viaduct collapsed last week, killing 43 people.
Some of the stays supporting the bridge were estimated to have lost 20 per cent of their resistance capacity and needed repair, according to a study by Autostrade per l’Italia, the country’s biggest motorway toll company. On Monday, the transport ministry, Autostrada and the architect tasked with investigating the collapse confirmed that the findings had been discussed by civil servants in February.
The revelation that the government knew of weaknesses in the bridge will undermine efforts by the populist coalition’s attempts to pin blame for the disaster squarely on Autostrade and its parent company Atlantia.
The government, which took power in May, told Autostrada that it intended to revoke its licence to operate about half of Italy’s toll motorways, and refused an initial offer by the company of €500m for repairs and compensation. The price of shares in Atlantia fell as much as 9 per cent on Monday.
The objectivity of the official investigation by the transport ministry into the collapse has also been questioned after it emerged that the ministry appointed the same official who assessed the Autostrade proposals to head the ministry’s investigation into the accident.
Roberto Ferrazza, a transport ministry architect in Genoa, was part of a provincial board overseeing public works. He said he assessed the project proposed by Autostrade to carry out maintenance and repair works on the bridge in February this year. Last week he was appointed to lead the ministry’s investigation into the collapse.
On Monday, Mr Ferrazza told the Financial Times that he would not step down as head of the investigation team. “I don’t see a conflict of interest,” he said. Whether he continued to head the investigation “is not my decision”, he added. “I was appointed.”
Mr Ferrazza said on Monday that the Autostrade report quoted “at length” from a survey by the Politecnico University in Milan in October last year, which stated that corrosion meant that “parts of the bridge were 10 to 20 per cent down in resistance capacity”. “This was the main reason for the works,” he said.
He said the board gave the proposed maintenance and repair work a “favourable” review but asked for further information about the flaws in the bridge.
The officials made sure their assessment was completed quickly, he said. “We had it for a short time, a few weeks, then we sent it to the ministry in Rome for final approval so the works could get started as soon as possible,” he said. The project was approved by the ministry and a tender for €20m to carry out the work was advertised in May.
Despite the warnings, officials did not stop or limit traffic on the bridge in the six months between the meeting and the collapse.
A spokesman for the ministry confirmed it had assessed and approved the Autostrade works, but said it had no further comment to make.