Genoa Motorway Bridge Collapses

Urgent checks of Spaghetti Junction taking place

Latest video shows what looks like multiple lightening strikes as bridge collapses.

Did that set off some kind of Domino's effect

At least 11 people have died after a 260ft section of a highway bridge suddenly collapsed during a storm in Genoa, Italy.

Cars fell 300ft into a river, railroad tracks and buildings when the Morandi bridge gave way at 11.30am local time.

The head of the local ambulance service said there were 'dozens of dead' in what the transport minister called 'an immense tragedy.'

One witness described the carnage as an 'apocalyptic scene.'

Crisp - you are funny most of the time but I don't think this is the time for smiley faces.

Hang on, it's the humour police

Thought it said Ghana. Was going to skim over it.

Genoa. That's awful.

Aug 14, 2018 -- 2:38PM, crystalhunt wrote:

Crisp - you are funny most of the time but I don't think this is the time for smiley faces.

I'm sure the Leopard will apologise

Motorway bridge has collapsed near the northwest Italian city of Genoa, sending vehicles plummeting up to 90m (295ft) to the ground and killing at least 22 people, officials say.

Video footage appears to show one of the towers holding up the suspension bridge collapsing in stormy weather.

Vehicles fell along with bridge debris on to rail tracks.

Strange isn't it, Italy has a bit of a reputation for substandard construction due to the mafia, but this is in the north, and anyway you'd normally fear it would be an Earthquake that would take something like that down there. They said a "sudden storm", you can get these odd wierd weather effects with a huge sudden localised force, maybe it was that, can't believe it was lightning, they are relatively easy to protect from.

Have seen some unbelievable storms in that part of the world, was in Savona one night thought the world was ending.

If it's the road I think it is, I've been along it several times in the 1980s and has been there a long time. If so it's more likely to be a maintenance issue than a design one.

I'm told that Genova has been done up a bit since then Foinavon, when I visited in 1985 I couldn't believe what a shytehole it was.

Yes, you wouldn't wander around the docks area on your own. I went there on business so was usually ferried around and stayed in a hotel in a good area. Landing there for the first time was hair-raising as the airport is on a narrow strip between sea and mountain foothills. After circling over the med for a while it plunged rapidly towards the strip. You got used to it after a couple of times. Later on the business moved nearer to Milan so I didn't visit Genoa again after that.

How horrendous. We drove over that bridge in June 2016 on our way from Lake Orta to Rapallo.

We drove over it again a few days later. Awful pictures in the Daily Mail

Death toll now at 35 - firefighters

Italy's fire brigade says at least 35 people are now confirmed dead.

Civil Protection chief Angelo Borrelli, quoted by Ansa news agency, says 30-35 vehicles were crossing the bridge when it collapsed, as well as three large trucks.

Just dreadful....

Wadi el Kuf Bridge is a bridge located 20 km west of Bayda, Libya. It's the second highest bridge in Africa. It was designed by Italian civil engineer Riccardo Morandi. Construction of the bridge began in 1965 and the bridge was opened in 1972. The bridge crosses the Kouf Valley.It is about 282 meters long, and 160 meters in height at a cost of five million three hundred thousand dollars. On 26 October 2017 the Security Directorate of the Green Mountain region in east Libya called on the security services to close down Wadi el Kuf Bridge, following recent inspections that identified potential fractures in the bridge.