(see related) Genoa will have a new viaduct to replace the Morandi bridge that collapsed in August, claiming 43 lives, late next year, Liguria Governor Giovanni Toti said on Friday. "Genoa will have a new bridge over the Polcevera river by October 2019, November at the latest," Toti told the press conference presenting the project for the new viaduct by world renowned Italian architect Renzo Piano.
"The new Morandi cannot be a normal bridge, given the pain it caused.
"We want to build a symbol for the future of the city. "Piano's project represents the essence of Liguria with a wealth of meaning.
"It will be built quickly". Piano said the new bridge "will have to last 1,000 years and will have to be made of steel". Giovanni Castellucci, the CEO of highways company Autostrade per l'Italia and its parent company Atlantia, said the new bridge would be constructed by a consortium featuring shipbuilding company Fincantieri. At the end of Friday's presentation, Castellucci dropped part of Piano's model of the new bridge, smashing it into many pieces.
Castellucci is among nine people from the highways company who are under investigation in relation to the collapse of the Morandi bridge in Genoa in August sources said on Friday. Several transport ministry officials are being probed too, the sources said.
These include Vincenzo Cinelli, the head of the ministry's directorate general, and his predecessor Mauro Coletta. On Thursday prosecutors said they were investigation 20 people over the disaster, while stressing that the number of suspects could go up.
The probe is into alleged multiple culpable homicide, among other accusations.
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