Bridge collapses in Italy with
almost no traffic amid lockdown
Reuters,
by
Staff
Original Article
Posted By: ladydawgfan,
4/10/2020 12:55:55 PM
MILAN – A bridge on a normally busy provincial road in northern Italy collapsed on Wednesday but with virtually no traffic during the coronavirus lockdown, only two truck drivers suffered minor injuries, the fire brigade said.
A spokesman for the fire brigade said the 260-meter (853-feet) bridge on the SS330 road near the town of Aulla, roughly midway between Genoa and Florence, in the northern tip of Tuscany, collapsed at 10:25 am.
Although casualties were limited in Wednesday’s incident, the incident highlights the poor state of repair of Italy’s road network, after the collapse of a motorway bridge in the port city of Genoa in 2018 that killed 43 people.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
philsner 4/10/2020 1:18:47 PM (No. 375252)
No, we won't stay locked down in order to keep people from dying in a bridge collapse.
5 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
snakeoil 4/10/2020 1:54:25 PM (No. 375283)
Bridge collapsed because of Corona Virus.
3 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
NorthernDog 4/10/2020 2:00:31 PM (No. 375288)
The stuff made 500 to 2,000 years ago in Italy is still good. Anything made in the last 75 years is on its last legs.
8 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
AhClem 4/10/2020 2:15:41 PM (No. 375299)
You need a lot of traffic to squish the joints together. Without that, poof.
1 person likes this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
Ida Lou Pino 4/10/2020 2:32:45 PM (No. 375318)
That highway connects the Via Emilia - - which runs down the Po Valley - - to the Via Aurelia - - which runs along the west coast.
It's not one of the heavier-travelled roads in Italy - - but it certainly is important for the folks who use it.
Pauvera Italia - - we pray that you survive these inflictions.
3 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
John Gee 4/10/2020 2:37:38 PM (No. 375333)
#3, no 500 year-old bridges take any heavy wheeled traffic, and their spans tend to be quite short, and in fact a lot of old bridges collapsed or were demolished centuries ago, so people aren't aware of them. Try not to make sweeping generalizations, okay?
1 person likes this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
earlybird 4/10/2020 2:44:54 PM (No. 375339)
Bridge had to be repaired after heavy weather last November. I’d be looking at nature of damage, nature of repairs and who did the repair work and with what…from where. If materials came from China, for example… They have been “helping” Italy a lot.
6 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
John Gee 4/10/2020 3:01:11 PM (No. 375355)
#7, the article states:
"The road affected by Wednesday’s incident had been repaired after bad weather in November."
NOT the bridge, the ROAD. The repairs have nothing to do with the collapse.
0 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
red1066 4/10/2020 3:13:55 PM (No. 375370)
Another victory for Socialism?
0 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
Vesicant 4/10/2020 3:37:51 PM (No. 375390)
They have Democrat city managers in Italy? Gee, who knew?
0 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
fayebeck 4/10/2020 3:38:27 PM (No. 375391)
Gives new meaning to "use it or lose it."
0 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
earlybird 4/10/2020 3:53:32 PM (No. 375397)
The bridge was connected to the road. None of us here knows what effect the road repairs might have had on the bridge, do we…
The article also goes on to say:
The poor maintenance of Italy’s roads and bridges and mismanagement of its highway network has been a major political issue since the collapse of the bridge in Genoa, which was operated by infrastructure group Atlantia.
1 person likes this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
earlybird 4/10/2020 5:56:44 PM (No. 375502)
From another article:
The Anas road agency had sent inspectors to the bridge last year after a crack developed following heavy rains. The section was cleared for further use, Italian agency ANSA said.
The mayor of Aulla, Roberto Vallettini, had written to Anas flagging that heavy trucks were repeatedly using the two-lane bridge because of nearby road closures.
The bridge collapse comes as Italy is still working to rebuild the heavily used Morandi Bridge in Genoa, which collapsed in 2018 during a rainstorm, killing 43 people.
Headline: Bridge collapses in Italy, newest crumbling infrastructure
https://apnews.com/f969bdea4f95d189584d63d4dd6c6bfe
4 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
John Gee 4/10/2020 6:05:47 PM (No. 375514)
"None of us here knows what effect the road repairs might have had on the bridge, do we…"
None of us here has any reason to suggest the road work had any effect on the bridge whatsoever. But one of us said the bridge was "repaired," incorrectly as it turns out, and suggested China might have had something to do with it.
I dislike the Chinese government as much as anyone, but that doesn't justify making up stuff.
0 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
earlybird 4/10/2020 7:41:42 PM (No. 375580)
I had no idea that my comments on possible reasons for the bridge’s collapse would offend anyone. They were based on several things. Artilcles elsewhere talked about the dreadful condition of Italy’s infrastructure - roads and bridges - and a major bridge near Genoa collapsed in 2018, causing the deaths of numbers of persons. The company responsible for the maintenance of the road leading to this bridge - Autostrade, owned by Atlantia, which is engaged in financing infrastructure along with other things - was also responsible for the maintenance and the repairs to the bridge near Genoa that subsequently failed.
Here is information that shows China owns a share in Autostrade under China’s expansionist program, the Belt and Road Initiative. Xi’s baby, which has worked its way into a number of troubled countries around the globe with the intention of making China the #1 power in the world.
ROME (Reuters) - The Italian government has told Autostrade’s Chinese shareholder it would offer compensation should it decide to strip the toll-road operator of its motorway concession after last month’s deadly bridge collapse in Genoa.
China’s Silk Road Fund has a 5 percent stake in Autostrade per l’Italia, which is controlled by Atlantia.
A bridge on the A10 motorway in Genoa run by Autostrade collapsed on Aug. 14, killing 43 people. The Italian government has blamed the company for serious oversights and launched a formal procedure to revoke its concessions.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-italy-motorway-collapse-chinese-inves/italy-to-offer-silk-road-fund-compensation-if-autostrade-nationalized-idUSKCN1LR1PW
I didn’t make anything up.
3 people like this.
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The photos are incredible! I can't even imagine the numbers of fatalities from this had the bridge seen normal traffic!