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WORLD NEWS Monday 20 august 2018

Italy bridge designer warned in 1979 of risk of corrosion

By NICOLE WINFIELD resort to a treatment con-
Associated Press sisting of the removal of all
ROME (AP) — The Italian traces of rust on the expo-
engineer who designed sure of the reinforcements,
the Genoa bridge that col- to fill in the patches.”
lapsed and killed dozens A huge section of the
warned four decades ago bridge collapsed Aug. 14
that it would require con- during a fierce storm, killing
stant maintenance to re- 43 people and forcing the
move rust given the effects evacuation of nearby resi-
of corrosion from sea air dents in the densely built-
and pollution on the con- up area.
crete. The cause is under investi-
RAI state television broad- gation, and a team of en-
cast excerpts Sunday of gineers appointed by the
the report that the late en- ministry of infrastructure
gineer Riccardo Morandi and transportation carried
penned in 1979, 12 years out a preliminary inspection
after the bridge bearing Sunday after rescue crews
his name was inaugurated concluded their search for
in Genoa. The Associated the missing.
Press downloaded the Eng- The head of the govern-
lish-language report from ment team, Roberto Fer-
an engineering news por- A view of the partially collapsed Morandi highway bridge, in Genoa, Italy, Sunday, Aug. 19, 2018. razza, said the preliminary
tal. The unofficial death toll in Tuesday’s collapse rose to 43 Saturday. survey suggested a series
At the time of writing, Mo- Associated Press of possible causes and not
randi said there was al- lution from a nearby steel en the “aggressivity” of the soundness of the reinforced just a simple collapse of
ready a “well-known loss plant. He said he chose to corrosion that wasn’t seen concrete bridge design he the bridge support since
of superficial chemical re- write about it because the in similar structures in differ- used but warned: “Sooner the span appears to have
sistance of the concrete” degradation represented a ent environments. or later, maybe in a few initially experienced a
because of sea air and pol- particular “perplexity” giv- Morandi reaffirmed the years, it will be necessary to distortion.q