Former Autostrade CEO Giovanni Castellucci sentenced to 12 years for 2018 Genoa bridge collapse that killed 43

The verdicts

An Italian court in Genoa sentenced Giovanni Castellucci, the former CEO of Autostrade per l'Italia (ASPI), to 12 years in prison on Thursday for his role in the 2018 Morandi bridge disaster. Prosecutors had requested 18 years and six months for Castellucci, who was not present at the verdict reading because he is already serving a six-year sentence for a separate fatal crash on the A16 highway in 2013 that killed 40 people. In total, 32 defendants were convicted, receiving sentences that together amount to almost 200 years for charges including homicide, road homicide and culpable collapse. Another 25 defendants were acquitted or had their cases timed out under the statute of limitations.

In total the Genoa court convicted 32 defendants, including the former managers and technical officials of ASPI and its SPEA maintenance and road safety arm, and gave sentences for a total of almost 200 years.

Key sentences

Michele Donferri, the former number three at ASPI, received 11 years (prosecutors had sought 15 years and six months). Paolo Berti, the former number two at ASPI, and Antonino Galatà, the former CEO of SPEA, were each sentenced to five years and six months. Mauro Coletta, the former transport and infrastructure ministry manager responsible for overseeing highway concessions, was given five years. The prosecution argued that many of the defendants knew the viaduct could collapse but did nothing to prevent it. ASPI and SPEA themselves are no longer involved in the criminal trial after reaching a plea bargain to pay damages of around 30 million euros.

The collapse

On 14 August 2018 at 11:36, amid a violent rainstorm, a stay cable on the summit of pylon 9 of the Polcevera viaduct snapped, causing the bridge section to collapse. Cars and trucks were torn 45 metres to the ground. The bridge, designed by engineer Riccardo Morandi and opened in 1967, had been a critical artery connecting Genoa's port, airport and city centre. Forty-three people died, including motorists on the bridge and people on the ground crushed by falling concrete. Sixteen people were injured. The last body, that of Mirko Vicini, was recovered from the rubble five days later. Approximately 600 residents lost their homes, with 266 families evacuated from red and orange zones established beneath the remaining pylons 10 and 11, which threatened the houses below.

Etwa 600 Anwohner verloren ihr Zuhause. Mehrere Häuser mussten abgerissen werden, weil sie unter akut einsturzgefährdeten Brückenpfeilern lagen.

The investigation and trial

Prosecutors Massimo Terrile and Walter Cotugno led the investigation, arguing that ASPI was aware of the viaduct's construction defect but cut maintenance spending to guarantee higher dividends to shareholders. On 6 September 2018, 20 people were placed under investigation, a number that later grew to 59. The trial lasted four years and involved 57 defendants. A key piece of evidence was a surveillance video from a nearby company, Ferrometal, which was released by prosecutors on the day of the verdict after being kept secret throughout the investigation. The footage shows the south-side stay cable failing, followed a fraction of a second later by the collapse of the deck.

Nelle immagini si vede chiaramente lo "strallo", il tirante lato sud, cedere: una frazione di secondo dopo cede l'impalcato, inghiottendo auto e camion che stavano attraversando il ponte.

Aftermath and the new bridge

The remaining sections of the Morandi bridge were demolished. Pylons 10 and 11 were brought down by controlled explosion on 28 June 2019. For two years, Genoa, a city of nearly 600,000 inhabitants, was effectively split in two. In August 2020, a replacement viaduct designed by Genoa-born architect Renzo Piano opened. Piano created the design for free as a gift to the city. The new structure, named the Genoa San Giorgio Bridge, features sail-like elements reflecting the port city's maritime heritage and carries 43 light masts, one for each victim. On Wednesday, the day before the verdicts, ASPI's current CEO Arrigo Giana published an open letter in Corriere della Sera apologising for the disaster on the company's behalf.