Relatives boycott reopening of Italy's rebuilt Genoa bridge

Families are angry that the company that maintained the collapsed bridge will still run the new one for a while

Even the backdrop of a rainbow was not enough to induce the bereaved families of those killed when the Morandi Bridge in Genoa collapsed two years ago to turn up to the ceremony to commemorate its replacement on Monday.

Relatives of the victims, along with the firefighters who pulled many of the 43 dead from smashed cars and trucks on that tragic day, boycotted the event attended by Italy’s president and other dignatories to inaugurate the new bridge.

Two years ago this month, a stretch of the Morandi Bridge in Italy suddenly gave way in a violent rainstorm, sending vehicles plunging to the dry riverbed below.

The newly constructed bridge, a key artery for the north-western Italian port city, was erected after round-the-clock construction, even during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rain drenched the new bridge just before the ceremony, which started with national anthem and a recitation of the names of the dead. But shortly before the ceremony, the downpour ended and a rainbow arched over a nearby hillside.

A rainbow over the new San Giorgio bridge on its August 3 inauguration day in Genoa, Italy. AFP

Two Carabinieri officers stand under the new San Giorgio Bridge. AP

The new high-tech structure will have four maintenance robots running along its length to spot weathering or erosion. AFP

Italian architect Renzo Piano walks on the new San Giorgio bridge. AFP

A special dehumidification system will be used to limit corrosion on the bridge. AFP

Relatives of the 43 people boycotted the opening, saying the ceremony risked overshadowing the tragedy. AFP

The new bridge opened almost exactly two years after the previous bridge collapsed during a violent rainstorm on August 14. AFP

The families of the dead agreed to meet President Sergio Mattarella privately before the event but announced they were skipping the ceremony.

They are angry not with him but upset that the company which maintained Morandi Bridge will still run the new bridge for a while longer, since poor maintenance is being investigated as a possible cause of the collapse.

“No one can give us back our dead,” Egle Possetti, who leads an association of the bridge victims’ families, told Sky TG24.

Possetti, who lost a sister and other family members in the collapse, said she hoped attention would stay focused on the ongoing criminal investigation into the collapse.

Firefighters who battled clouds of debris dust to extract survivors and bodies from tons of twisted metal also decided to boycott the ceremony in solidarity with the families, Sky reported.

Prosecutors are probing what caused Morandi Bridge to collapse on August 14, 2018, on the eve of Italy’s biggest summer holiday.

Riccardo Morandi, the engineer who designed the bridge that was built in the 1960s, had recommended continual maintenance to remove rust, especially from the corrosive effect of sea air in the Mediterranean port city, and from pollution’s toll on concrete.

Prosecutors have said they are investigating to see if proper maintenance was consistently carried out over the years on the heavily used span.

Designing the new span was Genoa native, Renzo Piano, a renowned architect. The design aims to evoke a ship’s bow to honour the city’s proud seafaring history and has 43 lamps in memory of the dead.

Traffic will start crossing the new San Giorgio Bridge, named after St. George, on Wednesday.