As rescue efforts continue in the north Italian city of Genoa, experts are working to determine what exactly caused a major section of the Morandi Bridge to collapse, killing 22 and injuring at least 16 more.
Italian government officials and representatives of Autostrade, the infrastructure company which maintains the bridge, have stated it’s too early to reach a definitive conclusion on what caused the collapse.
Still, some theories have been presented as to the structure’s failure. Italian police have assigned partial blame to the heavy rains experienced at the time of the collapse, and eyewitnesses report seeing the prestressed concrete structure being hit by lightning.
#14agosto il video del crollo di #PonteMorandi a #Genova Polcevera Morandi@VAIstradeanas @DPCgov @emergenzavvf @Viminale @ComunediGenova @StradeAnas pic.twitter.com/9viaWCfAcu
— Polizia di Stato (@poliziadistato) August 14, 2018
Speaking to The Independent, an expert on electrical engineering said it’s unlikely lightning played a significant role in the disaster – but didn’t entirely rule it out.
The University of Bath’s Martin Fullekrug said “lightning generated heat could result in evaporating water to very high pressure and produce a subsequent crack or burst of critical support material, similar to the bark of a tree disintegrating after a lightning strike.”
General wear on the structure across its 50-year lifespan is a more likely culprit, said Ian Firth, former head of the UK’s Institution of Structural Engineers.
Firth told CNN “as this reinforced and prestressed concrete bridge has been there for 50 years it is possible that corrosion of tendons or reinforcement may be a contributory factor.”
That viewpoint has been backed by Italy’s CNR civil engineering society, who state structures like the Morandi Bridge have simply outlasted their reasonable lifespan.
A scathing 2016 take on the bridge by University Of Genoa professor Antonio Brencich has done the rounds too, in which he said “sooner or later it will have to be replaced.”
Italy’s transport minister Danilo Toninelli pointed to an alleged lack of maintenance as a point of concern; Autostrade maintains the structure was well looked-after.
Both government prosecutors and Autostrade said they will launch full investigations as soon as it’s safe to do so.
