Morandi Bridge collapse (2018)
Genoa, August 14, 2018: a span of the highway viaduct collapses, 43 dead. The loss cost the concession holder far more than its insurance covered, and the state put the concession itself on the table.
Genoa, August 14, 2018, shortly before noon, in heavy rain: pier 9 of the Polcevera Viaduct on the A10 gives way, and some two hundred meters of deck fall with the vehicles on it. Forty-three dead. Hundreds of residents of the buildings beneath the structure are evacuated. The bridge, designed by Riccardo Morandi, had been in service since 1967, and its prestressed concrete stays had raised corrosion questions for a long time. The highway was operated under concession by Autostrade per l'Italia (ASPI), controlled by Atlantia, the Benetton family holding company. The September 2018 "Genova" decree hands reconstruction to a commissioner, Mayor Marco Bucci, keeps the concession holder off the job and charges it the cost. The new bridge, designed by Renzo Piano and built by Webuild and Fincantieri, is inaugurated on August 3, 2020, at a cost of around 200 million euros. Political risk came in through the concession. The government threatens to revoke it; in July 2020, ASPI accepts 3.4 billion euros of compensation at its own expense, and Atlantia then sells 88% of the company to a consortium led by Cassa depositi e prestiti, a deal closed in 2022 for about 8.2 billion. No policy covers that kind of bill: liability pays the victims, property pays for the structure, but a negotiation with the granting authority is not an insurable loss. On the criminal side, ASPI and its maintenance subsidiary SPEA settled in 2022 for around thirty million euros. The trial of executives and engineers opened in Genoa in July 2022. On July 16, 2026, the Genoa court convicted 32 of the 57 defendants at first instance: twelve years for Giovanni Castellucci, ASPI's former chief executive, and five years for the former head of motorway concession oversight at the Transport Ministry. Twenty-five were acquitted or time-barred, and appeals remain open.
Textbook case, in numbers. A highway concession holder loses a viaduct. Its property policy covers the structure up to 150 million euros, with a 5 million deductible; rebuilding costs 200 million, so 200 - 5 = 195 million capped at the 150 million limit. Its liability program, 500 million across several layers, pays 180 million to victims and third parties. The granting authority then obtains 1,000 million in negotiated compensation, which no policy picks up. Total cost: 200 + 180 + 1,000 = 1,380 million; insured: 150 + 180 = 330 million; left with the concession holder: 1,050 million.
Genoa bridge collapse, Polcevera Viaduct collapse, Ponte Morandi, Genoa-Saint George Bridge
Follow the research
One letter a week. First, the week's underwriting note, when one is published: a dated, argued decision, signed by Paul Bernardski. Then what the observatory published on cyber risk, political risk and insurance. No account, no tracking.
No spam, one-click unsubscribe, no data ever sold.