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[Lizzie Zoom]

"Dozens" could be dead it is reported after a motorway bridge collapse in Genoa:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-45183690

Questions will surely be asked about how a modern bridge could spectacularly disintegrate.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

I'm glad I had nothing to do with the design or construction because there are questions I would not like to be asked.

How old is the bridge, Lizzie?

[STEMO]

I'm glad I had nothing to do with the design or construction because there are questions I would not like to be asked.

How old is the bridge, Lizzie?

Built in the 1960's with that well known construction material 'Mafia cement'.

[Varche]

I immediately thought mafia cement but heavy rain and they were shoring up the foundations. 50 years old too. Unusual design too.

Either way horrible for those affected.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

I'm glad I had nothing to do with the design or construction because there are questions I would not like to be asked.

How old is the bridge, Lizzie?

Built in the 1960's with that well known construction material 'Mafia cement'.

So some of the bodies could have have been dead for decades.

[Sir Tigger KC]

I immediately thought mafia cement but heavy rain and they were shoring up the foundations. 50 years old too. Unusual design too.

Either way horrible for those affected.

They were putting some fresh material in there? 

[STEMO]

I'm glad I had nothing to do with the design or construction because there are questions I would not like to be asked.

How old is the bridge, Lizzie?

Built in the 1960's with that well known construction material 'Mafia cement'.

So some of the bodies could have have been dead for decades.

 
Only twenty people on the bridge but we have thirty bodies, signor   

[BazaJT]

Built in the '60s but some work had been carried out not too long ago apparently.Death toll according to the 1 o'clock news was 11 this had increased to 22 before 2 o'clock with the possibility of more to be found.It appears to be lucky that no train was passing beneath the bridge at the time of its collapse or it could have been a whole lot worse.

[omegod]

I heard a lightning strike was possibly to blame.....how would that be then ?

[Doctor Gollum]

I heard a lightning strike was possibly to blame.....how would that be then ?

Exposed steel work... A strike would make short work of the reinforcement, especially if already weakened from corrosion

[aaronjb]

I heard a lightning strike was possibly to blame.....how would that be then ?

Exposed steel work... A strike would make short work of the reinforcement, especially if already weakened from corrosion

Not to mention (I would imagine) boil any moisture collected around rusty reinforcement, which I could easily see shattering the concrete from the inside out (much like rust does, only more slowly - which is what is killing the A4 flyover, IIRC?)

[Varche]

Can you imagine rhe sheer cost and difficulty in dismantling what is left and building new plus the years of disruption.?

[aaronjb]

Headline in the Daily Fail today:
"Shocking photo shows Genoa bridge 'crumbling' and 'caving in' just a few weeks before it collapsed killing at least 38 people - amid fears it was built with MAFIA concrete"

Are they getting their headlines from here, now?! 

[Varche]

Probably! Wasnt it STEMO that broke the story?

Does anyone actually know what his nemonic stands for?
Southern Turin something Mafia Organisation? 

[TheBoy]

I get a feeling I've been over that one.

I'm more upset about the damaged bridge on the A422 between here and Banburyshire though.

[STEMO]

Probably! Wasnt it STEMO that broke the story?

Does anyone actually know what his nemonic stands for?
Southern Turin something Mafia Organisation? 

Everything was built with mafia concrete. 10 Italian Lira per ton, an offer you couldn't refuse. 

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

If it was reinforced using Italian steel Im surprised it lasted as log as it did.
We bought a batch of it to use in reinforced concrete where I used to work, as it was cheap. It became very expensive when all the floors laid with it had to be ripped up from the buildings as they started to collapse.

[Lizzie Zoom]

An Italian journalist, who has been on the story of his countries failures in investigating in infrastructure throughout Italy despite billions of EU Euros, stated that this particular bridge was subject to major concerns about it's structure 25 years ago. He stated that it was typical of Italy that one of the political parties then, and continually since, has denied this bridge required repairs.  They considered it a waste of money and the funds went elsewhere, as they still do.  He reckoned this was the fault of the politicians, and current repair works were all too little too late.

He went on to say this was an example of "the rotten heart of a wonderful country".  As an Italian he was ashamed of his country and their politics.

[BazaJT]

According to reports there have been 5 other bridge collapses in the last 5yrs So although they probably weren't as dramatic/fatal as this one the Italians aren't exactly new to building folding bridges

[Varche]

An Italian journalist, who has been on the story of his countries failures in investigating in infrastructure throughout Italy despite billions of EU Euros, stated that this particular bridge was subject to major concerns about it's structure 25 years ago. He stated that it was typical of Italy that one of the political parties then, and continually since, has denied this bridge required repairs.  They considered it a waste of money and the funds went elsewhere, as they still do.  He reckoned this was the fault of the politicians, and current repair works were all too little too late.

He went on to say this was an example of "the rotten heart of a wonderful country".  As an Italian he was ashamed of his country and their politics.

Ihadto smile when they said there was a dearth of EU money going into Italy to repair such infrastructure. I bet there is a dearth of EU money going into Britain to repair their roads and bridges.