New Genoa bridge to take 12 months

The contract to replace the bridge in Genoa, Italy, which collapsed in August killing more than 40 people, has been awarded to Salini Impregilo and Fincantieri Infrastructure, subsidiary of Fincantieri.

The new bridge across the Polcevera River has been designed by architect Renzo Piano, and the two companies will work together by creating a new company called Pergenova with the aim of completing the structure in 12 months from the moment work at the site can begin following the demolition of the old bridge.

Pietro Salini, chief executive of Salini Impregilo, weclomed the decision of Genoa Mayor Marco Bucci, who is also commissioner of the reconstruction effort, and said that 12 months to help relaunch Genoa was “the dream that we are hoping to give the Genoese before Christmas in memory of the victims of this terrible tragedy – to relaunch the city as quickly possible and send a strong message to the entire country”.

He said, “Public works can kickstart the economy and start to create jobs again. We are in Genoa in the spirit of civic duty and, with Fincantieri, we are ready to help the city and its people.”

He added that many of the workers on the Terzo Valico – the Tortona/Novi Ligure-Genoa rail line currently under construction – were from Liguria, the region round Genoa, and the company wanted to be close to them after the tragedy that struck the city.

Giuseppe Bono, chief executive of Fincantieri, said, “Fincantieri offered its assistance from the very first moment – we owed it to Genoa and Liguria.

“Our expertise in the management of processes and complex products puts us in a position to carry out the best possible work in order to give the city a beautiful, functional and lasting public work within the expected timeframe. I am sure that the new infrastructure will be the best example of an Italy that can work to build public works that in the service of the country, when it puts its many excellences together.”

The bridge over the Polcevera is a key artery that connects the port and the wider coastal area to France. Salini Impregilo said the new structure would play an important role in helping Genoa in its “return to being an important shipping and commercial hub”.

The bridge will have a continuous steel deck 1,100m in length with 20 spans. It will have 19 elliptical piers made of reinforced concrete, the majority of which will be positioned 50m from each other. Two of the piers will be 100m from each other because of their location on the river and the railway. The design takes into account the fact that the bridge crosses a densely populated area.

Fincantieri will build the steel structures at its Genoa-Sestri Ponente shipyard, as well as at the Valeggio sul Mincio, Verona, facility and, if necessary, at the group’s other yards in Italy.

Production of the metallic deck will be carried out in macro structural elements that will be transported to the work site, assembled and welded, completing the working of each single span on the ground. The companies said this would ensure that working at height would be reduced to a minimum.

The hoisting will mainly be carried out using special equipment, strand jacks, which will allow for the aligning of the deck to the main element in steel previously placed at the top of the pile using a mobile crane.

In partnership with Cetena, a company within the Fincantieri Group dedicated to research and based in Genoa, there will be integrated monitoring, control and inspection system of the bridge.