This November 24, 2019 handout photo by the Vigili del Fuoco, Italian Department of firefighters, shows a viaduct section of the A6 highway between Turin and Savona collapsed following a landslide near Savona. AFP / Vigili Del Fuoco
Italy suffered its second road bridge collapse in 15 months in the northwest region of Liguria, raising major questions about the safety of the country’s aging infrastructure.
A viaduct on a stretch of the A6 highway between the Italian cities of Savona and Turin collapsed during what highway officials called "exceptional rain” that caused a huge landslide. Twenty meters of the road collapsed, according to a statement from the Autostrada dei Fiori, which manages that part of the highway.
No one was hurt and no vehicles were stuck, the statement said.
Images from the fire department showed mudslides in the hilly area at Madonna del Monte and a section of collapsed road with twisted metal guardrails. Apart from heavy rain, Italy has been battered with extreme weather, including flooding and snow.
Italy’s weak economy and massive debt leave little wiggle room for government spending, hobbling modernization of transportation infrastructure. To limit public investment, many of the country’s largest roadways are operated by private toll companies, who are now facing more scrutiny over the maintenance of their networks.
Societa Iniziative Autostradali e Servizi SpA, known as SIAS managed the roadway where the bridge collapsed today. A spokesman for the company declined to comment.
Today’s collapse was reminiscent of the disaster in Genoa, when a bridge on a highway crossing near the city came down in August 2018, killing 43 people. That road was managed by Atlantia SpA’s toll road unit. The tragedy prompted a debate on how to improve infrastructure and led to a government review of highway concessions. That is not finished yet.
The previous government threatened to revoke the roadway concession held by Atlantia, a company controlled by the Benetton family.
"To see another bridge collapse in the same region where the Morandi Bridge collapsed, with another highway concessionary which isn’t the Benettons, continues to support our thesis that these concessionaires who don’t maintain bridges and roads must no longer have the concessions,” said Luigi Di Maio, Foreign Minister and leader of Five Star Movement, which was a member of the current and previous government.
The collapse is likely to rekindle tensions between Five Star, the biggest partner in the ruling coalition, and its ally the center-left Democratic Party or PD. Five Star lawmakers have taken a harder line against highway operators, pressing for revocation while PD officials favor a review of contract conditions.
