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Bridge Caves In Over A14 Highway In Italy, Infrastructure Ministry Opens Inquiry

Following a similar incident from October 2016, when a man died crushed in his car by a bridge collapse on SS36 between Milan and Lecco, Italian media reports that another bridge has collapsed in the country of supercars, fashion, and very yummy cuisine.
Bridge Collapses Over A14 Highway In Italy 8 photos
Photo: screenshot from YouTube
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The dreadful accident happened on the A14 highway, at kilometer 235 + 800, between Loreto and Ancona. Bridge number 167 is the culprit of this tragedy, involving a temporary structure that was supporting the bridge. The two dead were a husband and wife originally from the Italian province of Ascoli Piceno, whose Nissan Qashqai couldn’t support the weight of the crumbling overpass.

The three injured were construction workers, who were taken to the hospital in Ancona and are reported to be stable. According to officials, there is a reason why this tragedy has happened. Repubblica notes that the temporary structure supporting the overpass wasn’t sturdy enough, prompting the head of the Marche region to comment that “these things should not occur.”

Italy’s Minister of Infrastructure and Transport signed a decree that appoints a commission to analyze how did this catastrophe happen and who will take responsibility for the collapsed bridge and victims. “We cooperate with the judiciary branch for a quick determination of liability and truth,” said Graziano Delrio, also showing condolences to the victims on behalf of the government.

When all is said and done, there’s another side to this story that shouldn’t be left out. First and foremost, Italy’s infrastructure is wearing down due to years of economic stagnation, with the country’s output roughly the same as it was back in the late ‘90s. In truth, the economy has barely grown since Italy had entered the eurozone in 1999. The IMF highlights that Europe’s third-biggest economy may not recover from the 2008 financial crisis until the mid-2020s.

Then there’s the problem of earthquakes. Italy’s mountainous central region is the epicenter of the quakes, and the Marche region is really close by. The big quake of 2016 that affected most of central Italy affected many towns in Marche, an event that also took its toll on the area’s infrastructure.

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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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