Relevant outcomes from the history of Polcevera Viaduct in Genova, from design to nowadays failure

Failures of structures are often tragic events, however represent an opportunity to improve the understanding of phenomena. In this paper, after the review of Bridge collapses, on August 14, 2018, the history of Polcevera Bridge is presented, starting from aging considerations done by its designer Riccardo Morandi in 1981, analyzing the outcomes of inspections in the years from mid ‘80s with references to Italian Regulations on inspections, the interventions done during bridge life, and finally some considerations on its collapse. The case is certainly a reference for reinforced concrete bridges built just after the 2nd world war in a highly corrosion-prone environment due to nearby sea and industrial as well as chloride pollution. Large reference is done to data included into the Report of the Commission of Italian Ministry of Infrastructures for the failure of Polcevera Bridge. Monitoring for assessment of performance decay due to corrosion is discussed with reference to the meaningful example considered.

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