Bridge collapse raises questions on infrastructure maintenance

On 14 August 2018, the Morandi bridge located in Genoa, Italy, collapsed killing at least 43 people and injuring 16 others. Several investigations into the cause of the collapse were launched but the cause is not yet established.

From the 2019 annual report

The Morandi bridge was operated by Autostrade per l’Italia (API), a subsidiary of Atlantia and we began engagement with the Atlantia shortly after the accident. The dialogue is constructive, as the company is open and responsive. Atlantia has shared information on measures to prevent similar failures in the future and remedial strategies for the affected people.

The investigation by the general prosecutor of Genoa into what caused the bridge to collapse is still ongoing and expected to be finished in early 2020. Before having the final results of this investigation, it is challenging to say to what extent Atlantia can be held accountable for the collapse.

Atlantia made its own investigations of the incident, which did not identify any alarming issues; before the collapse, there had been continuous maintenance work carried out on the Morandi bridge, and there had been no signs of urgent alarm on the infrastructure according to the company. The company’s position is that it has fulfilled all its maintenance obligations.  Shortly after the collapse, Atlantia set up a EUR 500 million fund for the victims’ families and for the relocation of hundreds of people living close to the bridge.

After the collapse, the company made a thorough maintenance check on 130 of its most important infrastructure projects in Italy and no risks were identified. During 2019, monitoring of projects was expanded even further. This indicates that Atlantia has improved its preparedness to ensure project monitoring and maintenance systems and emergency procedures are in place. The next step is to await the final results of the investigation into the cause of the bridge collapse.