ITALY Last 2 towers on bridge that killed 43 demolished
SIENA, Italy — The two remaining towers of a highway bridge in central Genoa that collapsed last year, killing 43 people, were demolished on Friday, clearing the city’s skyline of a grim landmark and preparing for the reconstruction of a vital urban transport link.
The sound of three low, ominous sirens broadcast on national television preceded the detonation.
Experts set a series of controlled explosions that in less than a minute brought down the nearly 300foottall concrete towers that supported the 1960s structure, known as the Morandi Bridge for its designer, famed engineer Riccardo Morandi. Its collapse Aug. 14 has become the subject of a criminal inquiry, as well as a symbol of Italy’s failure to maintain its aging infrastructure and of shortcomings in how it has privatized roadways.
More than 1,300 pounds of explosives were mostly packed into the towers’ pylons. Demolition experts had prepared the site by creating lagoons to keep enormous clouds of concrete dust from spreading across the neighborhood.
At dawn on Friday, thousands of Genoese living near the site were taken far from the area by bus. The authorities had detected traces of asbestos in the bridge’s construction material and decided to evacuate 3,500 residents in the area to avoid potential contamination.
“To my knowledge, it is the first time that this kind of work has been done in so little time and in a city center, at least in Italy,” said Vittorio Omini, a demolition expert.
The reconstruction of the bridge, which was kicked off on Tuesday with the first pouring of cement in the presence of Danilo Toninelli, Italy’s infrastructure and transportation minister, is already the subject of a dispute.
The new bridge has been designed by one of the city’s favorite sons, architect Renzo Piano, and a consortium of Italian contractors have pledged to complete construction in 12 months — a schedule that has drawn much skepticism.