On: Italy bridge: Genoa motorway collapse kills at lea...

[vthallam]

Why did they even build apartments under a bridge or a bridge over apartments? Can't think what would of have happened if the whole bridge collapses.

[lmm → vthallam]

If you're building a tall apartment block you're already trusting your building regulations/safety practices to prevent disaster; having a bridge above you doesn't seem inherently more risky than having n floors of housing above you.

[toyg → vthallam]

It's Genoa: sandwiched between sea and mountains, space is at a premium. Think of those lovely shots of Manarola and Cinque Terre, multiply them by a million, add one of Europe's biggest ports, and that's Genoa.

[jaclaz → vthallam]

In this case it is why they built a bridge over existing buildings.

A photo of the construction (1964):

https://www.autostrade.it/comunicazione-e-media/mediateca/ar...

[rayiner → vthallam]

Because most of thr time bridges don’t collapse and it’s nice not to waste the space and create an unpleasant pedestrian dead zone below?

[booleandilemma → rayiner]

I wonder if they had insurance against the bridge falling?

[jcranmer → vthallam]

The precollapse photos make me think that the bridge was built over an existing industrial area with minimal disruption to existing structures.

Looking at some of the links from the various Wikipedia articles on the subject, it does look like the buildings underneath the bridge predate the bridge: http://informesdelaconstruccion.revistas.csic.es/index.php/i...

[Piskvorrr → vthallam]

The assumption is "falling bridges are a black swan event, there's hundreds of more likely corner cases to cover before you get there."

Usually, the bridge is new-ish (second half of 20th century or newer) and the buildings are 19th century or older. https://www.google.com/maps/@50.0651354,14.4307227,3a,75y,22...

[overcast → vthallam]

Same reason they build housing near other highly undesirable locations.

[jandrese → overcast]

The housing is right next to an industrial trainyard from the looks of it. It was already undesirable before the bridge was built over it.

On the BBC the person they interviewed said that those apartments were abandoned however, so it may not be as bad as it looks.

[toyg → jandrese]

Not just a trainyard: reportedly the bridge runs above Ansaldo Energia, a big company that makes generators and turbines. So yeah, definitely not prime land, but still crowded.

[eeZah7Ux → vthallam]

By the same logic people should not live inside buildings other than cabins: if the building itself collapses the inhabitants don't survive.

[anacleto → hummel]

> That apartment existed way before your country.

This might be even true.