Riccardo Morandi: Genius Engineer Beyond the Genoa Bridge Disaster

The collapse of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa on August 14, 2018, at 11:36 AM, killing 43 people, has overshadowed the legacy of its designer, Riccardo Morandi (1902–1984), one of Italy's greatest postwar engineers. The bridge, conceived in 1960 and completed in 1965, was a technical marvel built over railway lines, the Polcevera stream, and housing without disrupting life below. Morandi, alongside Pier Luigi Nervi, was a master of the Italian engineering school, which included Silvano Zorzi and Sergio Musmeci. The article argues that the disaster was due to Italy's neglect of maintenance and increased traffic loads, not Morandi's design. It criticizes Renzo Piano for designing a replacement that erases Morandi's memory. Morandi's approach contrasted with Nervi's: he worked by compensation of forces rather than form, using prestressing techniques he patented. His works include the Amerigo Vespucci Bridge in Florence (1954–56), the Maracaibo Bridge in Venezuela (1957–62, 8,678 meters long with five 235-meter spans), the Maestoso cinema in Rome, Alitalia hangars at Fiumicino (1961–70), the underground pavilion for the Turin Auto Show (1958–59), and extensive work in the industrial city of Colleferro. Critics like Bruno Zevi and Philip Johnson praised his dynamic structures. The article is part of a series on Italian architects and engineers.