COUNTRY | Italy
REGION | Europe
SECTOR | transport
SUB-SECTORS | roads, bridges and tunnels
QII Principles | Principle 2 Economic Efficiency, Principle 3 Environmental Considerations, Principle 4 Building Resilience
QII Sub-Principles | 2: Life-cycle costing, 2: Operation and maintenance, 2: Technological innovation, 2: Risk management, 4: Resilience
Overview
Cost: total cost for the design and realization of the viaduct amounted to EUR 202 million.
Size: the bridge arises 45 meters above the ground and has a continuous steel deck measuring 1067 meters totally, made up of a total 19 steel and concrete spans, supported by 18 reinforced concrete piers.
Brownfield or greenfield: brownfield
Parties involved (public and private): Design by Italian architect Renzo Piano and built by a listed join-stock consortium company “PERGENOVA” S.C.p.A. established by Salini-Impregilo (WeBuild) together with Fincantieri.
Relevant contractual details (type (concession, BOT, PPP etc.), length): The bridge construction was entrusted to PERGENOA joint venture by the Special Commissioner for the Reconstruction through a negotiated procedure.
Context: The bridge is a critical infrastructure in Italy as it is placed in a fundamental junction for road connections and transport in the northern part of the country. Its construction represents a key example of smart and sustainable infrastructure as well as a showcase of Italy’s latent engineering and construction talents, experimenting with models of virtuous collaboration between public and private sectors and among large leading companies in the sector.
Aim(s) of the project – why was the project initiated?: The bridge was built to replace the older viaduct “Morandi bridge”, which partially collapsed on 14 August 2018.
Timeline
Key dates including procurement, construction, operations:
Construction operations officially started on 15 April 2019 to be concluded on 18 February 2020 with the completion of the piers.
The bridge was then inaugurated on 3 August 2020.
Relevance to QII
The project operationalises the sub-principles selected above as it takes into account economic efficiency of the infrastructure in view of life-cycle cost by including innovative technologies to improve monitoring, performance and safety. Moreover, it integrates environmental considerations by introducing elements and features which reduce energy consumption and mitigate the visual impact of the infrastructure within the urban context. Lastly, the bridge was built with a strong attention on ensuring resilience against risks.
Benefits
The adoption of smart technologies brings a series of benefits during the long-life of the infrastructure:
- Reduction of maintenance and operations costs through the integration of innovative monitoring, supervision and control systems for infrastructure management, prevention of corrosion and damages and prompt intervention. Particularly, the inclusion of a special de-humifying systems in the structure will prevent the formation of salt condensation thus limiting corrosion damages; and the presence of robots able to walk along the edge of the bridge will ensure maintenance and cleaning of the glass barrier.
- Enhancing environmental value with the introduction of innovative technologies that reduce energy consumption and mitigate the visual impact of the infrastructure within the urban context. The introduction of photovoltaic panels will significantly reduce expenditures thanks to the use of collected sunlight energy for the night and day operation of all its systems (plants, sensors, lighting). Moreover, lighting systems, colors and shapes are created to harmonize the visual impact of the infrastructure in the urban context.
Metrics
The using of robots and sensors ensure continuous monitoring and contribute to the creation of a broad database that can be studied and constantly analyzed to check deterioration phenomena and perform any maintenance operations.
Name of Institution
Italy - Ministry of Economy and Finance
Website URL