Horrifying...
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45183624
A major bridge has collapsed near the northern Italian city of Genoa, police say.
The bridge, a part of the A10 motorway, is about 100 metres tall, Italian media say - and there are unconfirmed reports that cars may have been involved.
Photographs from the scene show huge sections of rubble on the ground underneath the middle of the bridge.
One image shows a truck perched at the end of the surviving bridge section immediately before the drop.
Emergency responders are on the scene, but there are no details yet on whether there are casualties.
There are fears several vehicles may have fallen when the bridge collapsed, local media report.
The bridge, built in the 1960s, is known as the Morandi bridge. The missing section is dozens of metres in length, and run across the span of the Polcevera stream.
Italian newspaper La Repubblica described that part of the city as "densely inhabited".
So much for everyone saying they build everything better over there...
Quote from: jeffandnicole on August 14, 2018, 08:53:35 AM
So much for everyone saying they build everything better over there...
1. Are you sure it wasn't just the end of its lifetime?
2. They could still build things better over there if they have very few collapses compared to the United States, and this was one of the very few. (I say "very few" instead of just "fewer" because you would expect fewer collapses with fewer miles of roads in the network.)
Leading suspected cause is a "cloudburst". Witnesses are saying they saw lightning strike the bridge, then it collapsed....
Might be more of age finally got to it
If it was built in the 1960s, that makes the bridge only about 50 years old or so. Bridges usually have lifespans much longer than that.
Latest is 22 dead. Tragic event. And, not to make light of such a serious situation, but when I first saw the images, I couldn't help but think of the Thunderbirds episode Day of Disaster.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBO2HgBg_pc
Astey Highways covered this stretch of Autostrada A10. The bridge in the video begins at around 3:25.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBaO3cQ6Er8
Bridge collapses are a somewhat regular occurrance in Italy, though a bridge collapse of this calibre is very rare, this may be the largest collapse ever in Europe.
A complete pylon of the cable-stayed bridge collapsed. It is a 3-pylon cable-stayed bridge, built between 1963 and 1967. It is a crucial point in the Genova motorway network, this will significantly impact traffic for a long, long time.
Recent bridge collapses in Italy;
* 2018: a bridge span of RA1 in Bologna collapsed after a tanker truck explosion
* 2017: a local bridge collapsed in Cuneo (onto a police cruiser)
* 2017: an overpass of A14 near Castelfidardo collapsed onto traffic
* 2016: an overpass of SS 36 near Lecco collapsed due to an extremely overweight truck
* 2015: an under renovation span of the Viadotto Italia collapsed, plunging one worker 80 meters down.
* 2015: a bridge on A19 on Sicily partially collapsed
* 2014: a bridge of SS 626 near Licata collapsed
There are probably more... https://www.corriere.it/cronache/18_agosto_14/dieci-ponti-crollati-5-anni-in-calo-investimenti-manutenzione-8bd5fb56-9fb8-11e8-9437-bcf7bbd7366b.shtml
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-45183624
Update 35 people are reported dead at the Italy Bridge.
Also there are reports that a storm took down the bridge in Italy
https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2018/08/14/italy-genoa-bridge-collapse-vpx.cnn
According to one of the stories on this page, a design that was supposed to prevent corrosion didn't work. The structure started deteriorating at "great speed", and at 20 years of age the structure already needed reinforcement.
Another article read that work was ongoing at the base of the tower that broke/collapsed.
https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/genoa-bridge-collapse/index.html
Quote from: jeffandnicole on August 14, 2018, 08:53:35 AM
So much for everyone saying they build everything better over there...
"over there" is a huge generalization :-) There are 30+ countries in Europe with each having wildly varying design standards, construction history and maintenance levels. It wasn't until 2012 or so that the Eurocodes were universally adopted across the EU, so the vast majority of bridges were built before that time.
Bridges age and need renovation or replacement in the long term. The condition of bridges vary wildly across Europe, it is known that in countries like Germany, Italy or Bulgaria many bridges are in need of replacement, whereas this need is much lower in Spain, France or Scandinavia.
Germany and Italy are the most troubled countries, simply due to the sheer amount of bridges in poor condition. There are restrictions on many Autobahn bridges and a large number (in the hundreds) can not be economically repaired and need to be demolished.
It is my impression that both Germany and Italy have large numbers of deficient bridges, but Germany appears to have them monitored better than Italy. Italy has seen more bridge collapses than Germany. In Germany they take precautions such as lowering the weight limit or banning trucks all together.
In Italy there appears to be a quality difference between the tolled motorways, and the state-owned other highways. Though this bridge in Genova was on the tolled network of Autostrade per l'Italia...
Quote from: Chris on August 14, 2018, 01:43:30 PM
Quote from: jeffandnicole on August 14, 2018, 08:53:35 AM
So much for everyone saying they build everything better over there...
"over there" is a huge generalization :-) There are 30+ countries in Europe with each having wildly varying design standards, construction history and maintenance levels. It wasn't until 2012 or so that the Eurocodes were universally adopted across the EU, so the vast majority of bridges were built before that time.
Oh, I know. But listen to most Americans and they don't think things ever break down in Europe!
This incident highlights some of the downside risks of long valley viaducts, which are more common in western Europe and China than in the US. When the I-35W Mississippi River bridge collapsed, ~180 people were on it, but there were only 13 deaths, which translates into better than 90% survival odds: there was only a shorter distance to fall and plastic deformation of the deck truss (after it hit river bottom) had a cushioning and energy-dissipating effect. On the A10 bridge in Italy, on the other hand, traffic on the collapsed segment faced a 27-story drop. The Guardian is currently reporting that there were 20 vehicles on the fallen section and 22 people are confirmed dead.
Autostrade says the deck slab was being worked on and a construction crane had been transported to the site, so I suspect construction and possibly wind loads were proximate causes.
Where the US favored steel trusses for bridges during the era of initial Interstate construction, much of western Europe moved on to various forms of tensioned concrete construction. As a result, the Europeans don't have anything like our problems with fracture-critical bridges, but have taken on a lot of technological risk because corrosion of tensioning cables inside grouted ducts is very hard to catch.
That entire section of the A10 is a very major east-west through highway that passes through a rugged (indeed!) shore area of the French and Italian Riviera. It was essentially built 'halfway up the hill' from the Mediterranean coastline and makes incredible use of both tunnels and viaduct bridging. It is built to the very narrow roadway standards of its day and, IMHO, has desperately needed upgrading to six lanes with wider roadways (just bring them up to 'autobahn' standards, OK?) for many years now.
And there are no good ways for through traffic to get around this failed bridge.
Mike
Quote from: J N Winkler on August 14, 2018, 03:37:59 PM
Where the US favored steel trusses for bridges during the era of initial Interstate construction, much of western Europe moved on to various forms of tensioned concrete construction. As a result, the Europeans don't have anything like our problems with fracture-critical bridges, but have taken on a lot of technological risk because corrosion of tensioning cables inside grouted ducts is very hard to catch.
Even within Europe there are significant differences with concrete bridges.
For example in the Netherlands most concrete bridges are in better condition than anticipated. They designed the bridges with a certain load capacity after hardening of concrete after 28 days. However in reality the concrete continues to harden beyond those 28 days, so the bridge has a 10-20% better capacity than it is designed for, resulting in a ~30 year longer lifespan than anticipated. There have been no bridge replacements in the Netherlands for reasons other than capacity expansion.
The situation is starkly different in Germany, where many concrete bridges are in poor condition and need replacement. Some sections of Autobahn, such as A1 near Dortmund/Wuppertal need a replacement of basically every single structure due to their poor condition. Autobahns like A7, A44 and A45 have similar problems. They need a large-scale replacement of bridges that is not prompted by the need for more capacity. Such things are unheard of in the Netherlands. So two neighboring countries, very different situations.
Quote from: mgk920 on August 14, 2018, 04:17:57 PMAnd there are no good ways for through traffic to get around this failed bridge.
They, finally, got the legal stuff done to build a big bypass around Genoa. Shovels are due to go into the ground soonish, IIRC.
That build might be accelerated by throwing more money at it (the big thing is tunnel boring - more money = more TBMs + crews = shorter build time as you'll build in parallel, rather than sequential) - though would still be a long way off, it would probably be quicker than replacing the bridge which would need to go through the whole planning process and what not.
I highly doubt fresh approvals would have to be obtained for a like-for-like replacement of the missing segment provided assurances can be given that it would be sound. But if it is found that the collapse resulted from a design weakness that is present in other elements of the structure, complete replacement might be the expedient alternative. This could probably be fast-tracked in much the same way as the current I-35W St. Anthony Falls bridge, which was open fourteen months after Bridge 9304 collapsed.
Casual inspection of Genoa in Google Maps suggests that local traffic can be diverted between the A10 and the A7 via SS 1 (Via Aurelia), though not without pain.
There is wild talk of cancelling Autostrade's concession for the A10, however, so it is hard to tell who will orchestrate reinstatement of the missing link or when concrete steps will be taken toward that end.
https://www.sfgate.com/world/article/Bridge-collapse-points-to-difficulties-with-13162055.php
Another take on Italy's infrastructure issues.
Steve Bell's editorial cartoon in the Guardian cuts close to the bone (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2018/aug/16/steve-bell-on-the-genoa-bridge-collapse-cartoon) (and yes, that's the actual Autostrade logo (http://www.autostrade.it/it/home)).
New York Times: Genoa Bridge Collapse Throws Harsh Light on Benettons' Highway Billions (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/05/world/europe/genoa-bridge-italy-autostrade-benetton.html)
QuoteLong before the Morandi Bridge collapsed in Genoa, Italy, last year, killing 43 people, an economics professor named Marco Ponti took aim at the private company that managed the structure, raising two fundamental concerns.
QuoteOne was money. Mr. Ponti argued that Autostrade per l'Italia, or Highways for Italy, which managed the bridge and more than half of Italy's 4,000 miles of toll roads, made "abnormal" profits.
QuoteThe other was the lopsided power balance between Autostrade and the Italian government. Mr. Ponti, who served on an expert panel advising the government, said ministries did too little to regulate the company.
QuoteTaxpayers were being shorn "like flocks of sheep," Mr. Ponti said in a newspaper interview in 2003.
QuoteIt was a pointed dig. The Benettons, the Italian family famous for wool sweaters and a global clothing empire, controlled Autostrade. If Mr. Ponti hoped to shame them, it didn't work: He says he was forced to resign from the panel and the Benettons later threatened him with a multimillion-dollar lawsuit before backing off.
I love how the guy weighing in on this is named "Ponti" (literally, "bridges").
Yup. It is like Mr. Bridges going to work at the structures office, or Mr. Rhodes being in charge of the roadway design standards unit.
Kicking this to note that the final 44m span in the replacement bridge was lowered into place today, and is expected to open by July.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/28/completion-new-genoa-bridge-symbol-of-hope-italy-morandi
QuoteWork on the site continued during the peak of the pandemic, albeit under strict safety regulations, on what is considered a strategic commercial project linking Italy to France. Construction had begun in earnest in August 2019 shortly after what remained of the bridge was demolished. Its completion provides a rare moment of hope in a country where nearly 27,000 have died from coronavirus.
(https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/d52bd16856bd70e19887505a741f5df9766acc1f/0_172_5553_3332/master/5553.jpg?width=605&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=c09a50eaa1612d3a90bb691e09b57ca8)
Quote from: Kniwt on April 28, 2020, 08:41:48 PM
Kicking this to note that the final 44m span in the replacement bridge was lowered into place today, and is expected to open by July.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/28/completion-new-genoa-bridge-symbol-of-hope-italy-morandi
QuoteWork on the site continued during the peak of the pandemic, albeit under strict safety regulations, on what is considered a strategic commercial project linking Italy to France. Construction had begun in earnest in August 2019 shortly after what remained of the bridge was demolished. Its completion provides a rare moment of hope in a country where nearly 27,000 have died from coronavirus.
(https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/d52bd16856bd70e19887505a741f5df9766acc1f/0_172_5553_3332/master/5553.jpg?width=605&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=c09a50eaa1612d3a90bb691e09b57ca8)
Are people going to want to drive on it?
Quote from: Alps on April 29, 2020, 01:44:29 AMAre people going to want to drive on it?
If they don't, I suspect the reason will have more to do with high tolls than the possibility of a collapse. AIUI, they are using a tried-and-true precast segmental design and installing enough sensors that they can monitor it to within an inch of its life.
Once the restrictions are lifted, people will be happy to drive just about anywhere.