Genoa bridge: The €200 million reconstruction explained

The final piece of Genoa’s new bridge was moved into place less than two years since Ponte Morandi collapsed, taking the lives of 43 people. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte welcomed the new bridge as a symbol of unity and hope for the country ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic, which has already killed more than 27,000 people. Construction work did not stop despite the COVID-19 outbreak, making the structure presumably the first bridge being built under social distancing restrictions. What remained of the old Morandi bridge was demolished to make room for the new structure drawn by Genoa-born Renzo Piano, a world-renowned architect who designed The Shard in London, the Centre Pompidous in Paris, and the New York Times building in New York. Mr Piano says the new structure has been made to last 1,000 years. The total cost of the project exceeded €200 million.