Italian court to rule on Genoa bridge collapse after four-year trial
An Italian court is set to deliver a verdict in the 2018 Genoa bridge collapse trial, a case that has already forced the Benetton family to surrender control of a major motorway network and highlighted critical failures in Europe's infrastructure maintenance.
An Italian court is set to deliver its verdict on Thursday in the trial over the 2018 Morandi Bridge collapse in Genoa. A section of the key highway connecting France and Italy gave way during torrential rain on August 14, sending dozens of vehicles into the abyss.
The case has major implications for Europe's infrastructure sector, particularly the governance of privately operated public assets. Most of the 57 defendants are executives and technicians from Autostrade per l'Italia (ASPI), which runs almost half of Italy's motorway network, and its maintenance firm, Spea.
Prosecutors have requested prison sentences totalling more than 400 years on charges of manslaughter, endangering transport safety, and falsifying documents. The trial largely focused on deferred maintenance, with investigators finding that in the 51 years after the bridge's 1967 inauguration, "not even minimal maintenance work was carried out to reinforce the stays of pillar number 9".
Defence lawyers argue the collapse was caused by a hidden construction defect, specifically cable corrosion, rather than neglected upkeep. Giovanni Castellucci, ASPI's former general manager who faces 18 years in prison, is a "scapegoat" who in truth had "insisted that the pier reinforcement work be carried out," according to his lawyer Giovanni Paolo Accinni.
The economic fallout from the disaster has already permanently altered Italy's infrastructure landscape. Facing intense public indignation, the wealthy Benetton family was forced to surrender its stake in ASPI's parent company, Atlantia, to the state. Autostrade and Spea also reached a settlement with the public prosecutor, paying 29 million euros to the state and more than 60 million euros to victims' families. Only two families refused the compensation.
"We hope they will be convicted, but clearly the most important thing for the victims is that the truth finally comes out," said Egle Possetti, who leads a committee of victims' relatives and lost her sister, nephew, niece, and brother-in-law. "Unfortunately, it won't bring them back."
