The Genoa Bridge rises from the ashes. Was completed the launch of the nineteenth steel span of the new viaduct over the Polcevera river. Not even two years after the collapse of the Morandi Bridge on 14 August 2018 which caused the death of 43 people.
A project that took place in record time, despite the health emergency that our country is facing. It has been 7 months since the first deck was raised and thanks to a tight pace of work it was possible to create a small miracle and Italy has shown that it has all the skills to carry out similar works.
The layout of the new bridge is now complete and finally, the east and west parts of the valley are united. The laying of the asphalt and the official inauguration scheduled for this summer are missing.
The ceremony took place this morning April 28th. After positioning the last structure, 50 meters long, between the eleventh and twelfth piles, the sirens of the construction site, together with those of the port and the bells of the Genoese churches broke the silence of the lockdown, to commemorate the victims of the tragedy.
This last lifting concludes the work on the bridge designed by the architect Renzo Piano and built by PerGenova, the company made up of Fincantieri Infrastructure and Salini Impregilo. A celebration that started last evening, Monday 27 April, where the Genoese were able to admire the eighteen piles of the new bridge light up with the national tricolor.
The new bridge is 1067 meters long, consisting of 19 spans supported by 18 pillars 40 meters high. 17.500 tons of steel were used for the structure. Operations which, in the case of the special lifting of the 3 maxi-spans, also required 48 hours and over 50 people to work, as well as the use of special machinery such as strand jacks and maxi-cranes. A work that not even the Coronavirus emergency has managed to stop.
Il Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte he commented “We do our utmost to ensure that tragedies of this kind never happen again. We are reuniting an important communication artery with the centre, the heart, of the city of Genoa – he concluded – We are on time and we will soon be back for the inauguration, because the project is almost complete”.
The Minister of Infrastructure Paola De Micheli he underlined how this work is an extraordinary sign that, even in this difficult time, we can continue to change the world.
The governor of Liguria also attended the ceremony, John Toti, the mayor of Genoa, Marco Bucci, the CEO of Fincantieri, Giuseppe bono and Pietro Salini of Salini Impregilo. Unfortunately the architect Renzo Piano, due to travel restrictions, was unable to take part in the ceremony.
A symbol of rebirth, essential at a time like this for our country which continues to face the health emergency.
