New, iconic and sustainable: a bridge to look ahead
GENOVA SAN GIORGIO BRIDGE, ITALY
«A bold, immense work» said Italian Republic President Saragat on September 4, 1967, inaugurating and referring to the Morandi Bridge: 1km of asphalt and an average height of 45 metres over the Polcevera river. It was supported by a concrete structure and steel cables, for which it was given the name of the "Italian Brooklyn Bridge".
On August 14, 2018, a tragedy: the 9th pillar breaks and so do 43 people's lives. Genoa to the world, becomes a symbol of Italy's contradictions and omissions. The new bridge becomes a work that is even bolder and immense, not just because it needs to quickly rebuild a crucial section of the A10 (and of the E80), but also because it must improve the reputation of Italy as a whole.
And a miracle does happen on August 3, 2020, in front of Italy's highest offices, when the San Giorgio Bridge is inaugurated: a project donated to his city by Renzo Piano, which he defined as the most beautiful construction site of his life. «A cathedral» that took shape thanks to the workmanship of over 1 thousand people working 24/7 and that was finished in just 15 months: A record, during the darkest period of the Covid pandemic. It was celebrated by the international press as a symbol of Italian beauty, for its simplicity and has since then become an icon.
Made with a single deck that is 1,067 metres long, it has 19 spans and 18 concrete piers. A smart bridge made with 100% reused materials, acoustic panels, dehumidifying plants for structural safeguarding purposes, a monitoring control unit and photovoltaic panels that produce 95% of the energy required for its operation.
Devoid of sharp angles, with an elliptical shape inspired by a ship's prow, the San Giorgio Bridge is a fine piece of engineering, perfectly integrated into the landscape of the Superba, which proudly spans it.
THE WORK AND THE TECHNIQUE
METERS IN LENGTH STEEL DECK
SPANS
CONCRETE PIERS
METERS IN HEIGHT ANTENNAS
TONS STEEL
M³ CEMENT
PEOPLE INVOLVED
TYPE OF JOBS IN THE CONSTRUCTION SITE
MONTHLY HOURS WORKED
Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport
Webuild SpA and Fincantieri Infrastrutture
Arch. Renzo Piano
The construction of the new Genoa bridge, entrusted to the PerGenova Consortium—formed by Webuild and Fincantieri—began in parallel with the removal of the Morandi Bridge debris and was carried out in eight distinct phases.
Restoring Italy's international reputation
The collapse of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa was an international media event, not without symbolic repercussions on Italy's prestige and reputation.
The event was not only covered by Italian newspapers, as the tragic news was followed live by the most important international media like the BBC, the Washington Post, Sky News, The Guardian, the New York Times, Le Monde, El Pais, Bild, etc. whose articles were reposted by thousands of online sites, and on the most followed international social channels.
The fact that it was reopened in such a short time and the architectural appeal brought by the new infrastructure, besides solving mobility issues of the Genoese and the commercial transportation of goods concerning the city, also made the international media focus once again on the bridge, with very positive comments this time, therefore restoring the reputation of the nation, which was not "so very positive" at all, as said, when the previous bridge's collapse: Google Trends, the engine mapping news searches, shows that the two peak searches made in Italy and abroad in 2018 were when searching for "Morandi Bridge" and "San Giorgio Bridge" (therefore when the first bridge collapsed, and when the new one was completed and opened).
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