The Genoa Bridge Disaster 2018 | Plainly Difficult Documentary

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On 14 August 2018, a 210-metre (690 ft) section of the Viadotto Polcevera Ponte Morandi, in Genoa Italy viaduct collapsed
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SOCIAL MEDIA:
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CHAPTERS:
00:00 Intro
01:35 Background
04:45 Troubles Begin
09:08 Disaster
10:43 Cause
EQUIPTMENT USED::
►SM7B
►Audient ID4
►MacBook Pro 16
►Hitfilm
►Logic X
MUSIC:
►Intro: Scheherazade (Rimsky-Korsakov)
►Outro: Ambient no.4 | Made By John
My Music Links:
►open.spotify.com/album/67iIub...
► / background-music-ep
OTHER GREAT CHANNELS:
► / dominotitanic20
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► / jabzyjoe
► / @qxir
Sources:
►cedb.asce.org/CEDBsearch/reco...
►webapi.ingenio-web.it/immagin...
►archplanbaltimore.blogspot.com...
►www.pci.org/PCI_Docs/Publicat...
#disaster #Documentary​​​​ #History​​​​​​​​​ #TrueStories​

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Like the ending song here’s the links: Spotify: open.spotify.com/album/67iIubpirbayn5C1cKq1q5 KZbin: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jpyQnniqfad8jsk iTunes: music.apple.com/gb/album/background-music-ep/1637344926

[@paul6925]

Dude I love it. I grew up when the 303 squelch was so popular in clubs.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

@@paul6925 Awesome!

[@Marc83Aus]

@@PlainlyDifficult Wow. What a cooincidence, posted just after WTYP did their genoa episode. Now i see why they were in a rush to get the thing done in 20 minutes.

[@TheEDFLegacy]

@@PlainlyDifficult Great video! Your video doesn't cover what happened to the structures under the bridge. Were they sold via Eminent Domain (or, heck, insurance for that matter), and flattened when the bridge came down? I'd also imagine that people lost their belongings as they wouldn't want people in there.

[@klocugh12]

A banger!

[@dazdaz11]

This event was recognised in the game Euro Truck Simulator 2 as before the collapse you were able to drive over the original bridge, not long after they closed it in game and later on they did an event where you had to deliver materials and equipment to build the new bridge.

[@TheEDFLegacy]

Wish I knew about that! That would have been interesting to play!

[@KojiGaming]

I was part of those in the event delivering the goods to the site. Was pretty wild to learn about it from a videogame instead of the news!

[@LUNITICWILL]

SCS did this for the Big Sur Landslide in California

[@nicostenfors5690]

I delivered quite a few loads to the site in ETS2

[@NiceMuslimLady]

I participated in that event on ETS2, too, as well as the Big Sur Landslide event on ATS.

[@wojciechmuras553]

I was one of the last people to safely cross that bridge. I was returning from vacation in Italy with my brother. Dude is scared of heights and was mildly panicking, I distinctly remember him asking "what if this thing collapses?!". I laughed it off and tried to calm him down by talking about how it's essentially impossible with modern engineering. Well, fast forward 11 hours, as we approached Poland I tuned into the first radio station we caught. Just to hear "new information on the Genua bridge that collapsed 9 hours ago, the death count is still rising"... He still doesn't like highway bridges.

[@omarsstuff9819]

Damn that must've been crazy

[@Zapple7]

That's an incredible story... I crossed that bridge myself in 1979 on my way back to the UK from La Spezia, just at the same time as the original designer noticed the first signs of serious deterioration in the structure, as per video commentary... 🥶

[@Moribax85]

If it collapsed half an hour later, I would've been on the bridge myself: I'm a truck driver here in Italy, when it collapsed I was finishing unloading at the port and had to go load again in Milan.

[@alitlweird]

I trust “modern” engineering far less than I trust old school engineering.

[@billolsen4360]

@@alitlweird You mean like that bridge in Brooklyn that's been carrying traffic over it since 1883?

[@giaktilli]

I'm Italian born and the speech bubble on Morandi saying "mi hai fatto girare i coglioni" (you made my bollocks spin) had me snorting my coffee out of of my nose 😆. Mad respect for your attention to these little details Plainly Difficult, that is a truly colloquial phrase and it's quite impressive that a non-native speaker of the language managed to include it in a video like this just as an extra little bonus. I hope you see this comment because I just wanted you to know that these little details are noticed and appreciated!

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you

[@justinahole336]

@@PlainlyDifficult Reading that made it all the cooler! Nicely done PD!!! ...and...after thinking on it a bit, I'm gonna go back and learn to say that so I can use it at work. That might rate on the legacy scale!

[@cynthiatolman326]

Thanks for pointing that out to the rest of us. It really is these type of things that make these videos special.

[@Bakamoichigei]

Thanks for letting the rest of us in on the joke! That's a pretty damned funny colloquialism. 😂

[@jordikerkhoven3191]

@@PlainlyDifficult what is your disaster and legacy scale rating? You suddenly seemed to have stopped with that?

[@CoffeeMug2828]

That one frame of CCTV footage where a car was left floating in the air while the bridge collapsed under it would surely give anyone the chills.

[@Evansmustard]

its very haunting

[@justice4kurt182]

I saw that frame and had to double check that I saw what I thought I did. And it seems as though it wasn't simply that the road disappeared from under them but because a ramp/pump of sorts. Absolutely terrifying. Condolences to those who lost their lives in this tragedy.

[@saragrant9749]

Right? Just crazy to even think about.

[@genjitsu7448]

I am somewhat impressed that the bridge designer was open enough to admit that there are issues and seemed to be clear that corrosion was not to be tolerated. Admitting fault is not easy for any of us, especially on something so high profile. The collapse video is shocking to say the least, very sorry tor all of the lives lost and people effected by that loss. Plus anyone who was trapped - hell with that! That is a nightmare for just about any of us, i hope they are all doing well today.

[@wopmf4345FxFDxdGaa20]

For engineers it is normal. Actually I don't think one can be effective designer at all without acknowledging problems and room for improvement.

[@genjitsu7448]

@@wopmf4345FxFDxdGaa20 Yes, I agree. But I guess i was thinking of the ineffective ones that have been the center of recent videos like this one, just gets you on a train of thought.

[@wopmf4345FxFDxdGaa20]

@@genjitsu7448 Oh, yes, true. 😂

[@DutchDread]

Yeah, at the start of the video I was expecting to blame that guy, but heej, the dudes bridge survived for 50 years, and he'd pointed out the problems and what needed to be done and was ignored, so honestly, he's off the hook for the most part as far as I'm concerned.

[@RamzaBeowulf]

The engineer said that the bridge would last a certain amount of years, then it would have to be rebuilt. Sadly for... various reasons, the bridge remained operative for more than 10 years after the expiration date

[@metaphysicalretardation]

We got stuck on the bridge when returning from western Liguria 3 days before the collapse. Our guide used the opportunity to talk about the bridge and how important it is for over half an hour.

[@krissteel4074]

I remember my parents going to Italy back in 2015 and remarking that it was at the time 'very rough' to drive across

[@cynvision]

@@krissteel4074 The pictures from tower tops down to the roadway looked alarming. The road surface was maintained but the borders looked damp and spotty. The borders where the cables attached. Ykes.

[@krissteel4074]

@@cynvision Yep they had maintained the surface, but it was sort of up-down wonky in between the sections so it was a bit like a mix of roller coaster with some 'bangs' of the car hitting sections which are an inch or so a bit higher-lower than they should be.

[@klaytonalexandermatthews2047]

@@krissteel4074 was it kind of like driving over tree roots? You know how tree roots grow under the concrete sometimes

[@krissteel4074]

@@klaytonalexandermatthews2047 Sort of like those sidewalks when every 2nd step is a trip hazard, but then it also goes up and down hills.

[@jameswinter482]

As a soon to be engineer these videos always sadden me. No design will ever be perfect, every structure/plant etc. will have a life expectancy, and you need the constant maintenance, you need to replace structures/parts/machines etc., that's just how this works, but like the concrete design itself, everything always needs to be cost efficient... until something happens. We had a great professor in safety regulations class, and bassically every rule, norm or legislation for safety, maintenance etc. only ever came from one of these tragic events. Like all these politicians always wait till they have a bodycount on their back before they listen to all the engineers and inspectors. And it's always because of money.

[@ashkebora7262]

Capitalism is inherently evil because of the outcomes it produces. No, dumb polticians aren't unique to capitalism, but constant focus on not actually spending money is a main feature.

[@ingvarhallstrom2306]

Analyse any catastrophic collapse and you will see that lack of redundancy leading to a cascading failure is always always always at the bottom.

[@JustaGuy316]

I've been an Engineer for 16 years, and I can tell you that you will be told to do stupid stuff- it's an absolute certainty. It takes a strong person to tell your boss/customer no, and it will cost you personally and professionally. It won't make you any friends either. Been there, done that. But I know I sleep well at night knowing that everything I've designed is the safest I could possibly made it at the time it was done. The day that is no longer the case is the last day I have any business being an Engineer. "What does it benefit a man to gain the world but lose his soul?"

[@danielled8665]

The problem is this bridge was designed to have impossible to replace or repair cables because they were inside concrete. Concrete doesn't work under tension, only under compression. Pre-stressing it is just forcing a material to do something it wasn't meant to, and it's going to come with problems. Plus it uses more steel and costs more to repair in the end than just using a material that works under tension, aka steel cables.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

@@danielled8665 Plus it had no redundancy for the cables. So even if you could get through the concrete, as soon as you take the cables out for replacement, the whole section of the bridge is without support.

[@uzaiyaro]

I’m honestly stunned they were able to demolish, design, build, and commission a brand new bridge inside of maybe two years. That’s incredible.

[@mralpi]

Yeah, and that clearly shows that money was not an issue. They had plenty of resources to maintain the old one, or to rebuild it from scratch. But once again, victims had to be had before it could happen.

[@klaseronen7535]

Who knows if some plans had already been made during the years before the catastrophe. If we think about the excessive weight of electric vehicles, we will see more problems frighteningly soon. In any case, Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V are often useful tools in projects.

[@Johnrich395]

This honestly sounds like the most avoidable disaster that you have covered. Like, I agree that it was a compromised design, but the engineer agreed with that! Ultimately he warned people and tried to get proper maintenance. Then it survives the stated lifecycle, but fails because of maintenance. It seems to be the most preventable.

[@Inkompetent]

Great credit to the engineer in question who had enough integrity, dignity, and professional pride to step up and say that his design wasn't as good as he had thought, and also had done the work to say what needed to be done.

[@thomaskositzki9424]

I thought the same. Also: the bridge was planned for 50 years and collapsed after 51 - not regularly checking a structure that old and reducing stress on it by limiting traffic is borderline criminal.

[@spyone4828]

This seems like the most avoidable one that affected people not directly involved. I mean, the guy who ran an Indiana Jones style obstacle course to circumvent the systems designed to prevent him for accidentally exposing himself to a harmful dose of radiation, ... that was 100% avoidable, but the only casualty was the person responsible for what happened. The people on this bridge had nothing to do with the decisions that made it unsafe. :(

[@Johnrich395]

@@spyone4828 yeah, I count those guys as Darwin awards really.

[@billyelliot4141]

@@thomaskositzki9424 Italy is gabbagoo as Tony soprano says

[@brainyskeletonofdoom7824]

I'm from Genoa (precisely from a neighbouring town). In 2018 I was working abroad, I remember hearing the news at the beginning of a shift. I had a complete panic attack, the first estimates were for 300 dead and of course I know some families and friends who used to live in the houses under the bridge. My boss also forbidden me from using the phone because "i was too distracted". Luckily everyone I know was safe, but the tragedy was still terrible. I won't ever forget those days

[@patrickreuvekamp]

As in: your boss did not allow you to contact friends and family members that could have been involved? That does not sound like a nice move and is probably also rather counterproductive.

[@brainyskeletonofdoom7824]

@@patrickreuvekamp yes, managers were tyrants, they threatened me of a write up during the actual panic attack and sequent silent crying, luckily I got back to Italy and found a much better career path. After the disaster it was discovered that the bridge was not the only structure at risk: due to the mountainous nature of the region most of the highway is a series of tunnels and bridges, and a good chunk of those were (are...) at high risk, so for years the entire region was paralyzed, and some of those even collapsed ("only" some wounded, no victims iirc).

[@jeffreylebowski2440]

@@brainyskeletonofdoom7824 In what country did you work? Germany? A lot of italians work in Germany. I am sorry to hear what happend to you.

[@brainyskeletonofdoom7824]

@@jeffreylebowski2440 United Kingdom, don't worry, thanks I have friends who moved to Germany and they are doing pretty well, they like the country very much

[@Gabrielm624]

@@brainyskeletonofdoom7824 unfortunately it doesn’t surprise me that it was the UK where your managers put you through that ordeal, I’ve been there myself working in the hospitality industry in London and it’s truly awful how some bosses treat their workers😔.

[@4looming]

"Well there's your problem" just did a podcast on this yesterday so this is perfect timing. I'd love to see a Plainly Difficult on a future podcast.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

I’d like that too!

[@Jonathan-zf6ho]

Yay Liam

[@ArsenicApplejuice]

Yay Liam! I was going to say the same thing.

[@Astonvanquishs]

I agree! I also found quite interesting that in the span of 2 weeks there's been a lot of videos about the ponte Morandi! First the video from the channel "Dark History" then the podcast and to top it all off here's Plainly Difficult's production!!!

[@steveg5122]

@@PlainlyDifficult would be fun to hear you just rip into a disaster in a way you can't on your normal channel since WTYP is more adult with jokes and slides.

[@3rdworldgarage450]

I think this points to a larger issue. A lot of these failing bits of infrastructure were built in the post war building boom where things were built fast and cheap, figuring that they would be replaced or upgraded later on when things slowed down. Unfortunately, there is no more permanent solution than an expedient solution that is still working. Due to the debt incurred during the immediate post war era, money to improve things wasn't there and nothing was done. Now, everything has to be done again.

[@naughtiusmaximus830]

The US doesn’t build things anymore. If we did the money would just vanish before it was finished. Enjoy your fake Webb telescope pics tho!

[@johncooper9912]

You’ve hit the nail on the head there 👍

[@thebigdog2295]

It's a problem around the world, infrastructure is crumbling in countries all around the world. Due to negligence, and outright corruption by politicians using fund for upkeep for something else. Or else outright embezzling the funds.

[@AsbestosMuffins]

its not the debt from the post war boom its the shrinking of the economy and its growth. italy and many of the western european countries had double didget gdp growth for that period of the 50s and 60s before grinding to a halt and shrinking down to anemic levels for decades

[@naughtiusmaximus830]

@@thebigdog2295 China built 16 high speed rail lines less time and probably money than California spent on a few miles that was eventually abandoned.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

Even the designer knew that his bridge needs inspection and maintenance. And it did survive the projected lifespan.

[@fabrizioravera98]

I lived very close to this bridge, and every time you used to go over it, you could feel it moving and settling back into place (especially when there were trucks at the same time). Everyone knew this was just a matter of time, but money rules, so nothing was ever done until it killed people. I hope people guilty for this pay.

[@nkt1]

I would have thought that detectable movement would be desirable in a long bridge, especially one comprised of so much concrete.

[@kamoke1]

Never a good sign when you're a bridge and ominous cello music begins to play...

[@angelcat621]

As someone who's grown up in the region where the Silver Bridge once stood, I can definitely feel the echoes of that disaster in this one. Improper maintenance, design flaws, and a heavy human toll. It's a shame either of them happened. Excellent video.

[@craigjensen6853]

11:20 "The design looked beautiful, in exchange for less redundancy" Reminds me of the FIU bridge collapse in Florida. Form FOLLOWS function.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

I agree

[@alexjenner1108]

I was thinking of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge from 1940.

[@NickJohnCoop]

I’m sure the look of a bridge is important, but making sure the bridge can safely act as a bridge is more important.

[@TrojanHell]

If anything this bridge looked sketchy as fuck to me

[@anyjen]

You would think that would be a given.

[@danielled8665]

Architects vs engineers in a nutshell

[@gafrers]

Welcome to Italy where "captain Hindsight" reigns supreme. They all know there are issues with something but nobody does anything because Money

[@bubba99009]

Also played a big role in the FIU pedestrian bridge collapse. So much time, effort, and money going into trying to make it "look cool" and not enough into making sure it doesn't kill anybody.

[@Masterblack1991]

I remember that after this disaster,was raised much concerns for the major bridge in Italy for the fear of the same consequences. Totally expected,was found that most of the bridge in Italy needed maintenance from years and years. (When things like this happens,we say:"you discover the hot water")

[@worldcomicsreview354]

Similar with Railtrack in the UK, they just "trousered" (to quote a popular satirical magazine... which also does some of the best investigative journalism) maintenance money, until trains started crashing.

[@Zigurath100]

50 year expected lifespan. Lived up to requirements.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Indeed it did

[@gendoruwo6322]

I wish it's designed to last 1000 years instead of just 50...

[@scentus391]

@@gendoruwo6322 Any bridge built to be able to last 1000 years would come with a price tag no sane government would ever accept.

[@peterfireflylund]

@@PBFoote-mo2zr Designed by the best senatorial horses!

[@LRM12o8]

@@PBFoote-mo2zr didn't know the aqueducts carried thousands of two-tonne cars and hundreds of 40-tonne trucks barreling over it at 100+ km/h every day, lol!

[@andrewcurtin7003]

Any engineer that says somthing is "maintence free" is lying to you

[@PlainlyDifficult]

That I can agree with, take come cvt transmission for example

[@andrewcurtin7003]

@@PlainlyDifficult oh god that thing. I hate those damn transmissions. Tbh i put alot of fault on that engineer for even saying that and let alone basically saying "ey yo fill in the cracks with epoxy" like thats not gomna do anything to the water leeching in already and whatever corrosion is already affecting it Rule 1 of desgin: always prepare for the unexpected

[@ilariomichelini4616]

My father was born in a house just below the bridge. I was born and raised in Genova. It is safe not to point the finger to anyone b4 the tribunal, but as now, we know that many maintenance reports had underlined the peril, and asked for urgent maintenance of the pylons. In order to save money and increase PROFIT, the agency responsible for that REFUSED to do the work, and there are many records of this. Giving something as important as motorway maintenance to private holdings and businesses is really WRONG, in Italy especially, where corruption and lust for easy cash at the expense of the population are blatantly dominant. There have been many discussions in order for the government to regain total control of autostrade (motorways), but (in my opinion due to crooked politicians and corruption) this has not been done yet. peace. btw, for a 16' video, well done mate.

[@paulochikuta330]

Autostrade manages (normally/the rest of) the motorways pretty well compared to other countries especially the UK

[@ilariomichelini4616]

@@paulochikuta330 you know nothing, John Snow.

[@ettore760]

@@paulochikuta330 then you find kilometers of motorway undrivable over 80kpm with a trailer because the road is wavy (and you are in a flat region lmao)

[@Davey-Boyd]

@@paulochikuta330 Autostrade run some motorways in the UK too.

[@medler2110]

When this happened there had already been several bridge collapses on the Italian road system, but they hadn't lead to the same scale of loss of life and didn't have cameras focused on them, so they didn't get the media attention that normally gets politicians and companies to get their act together.

[@v1doc]

Sorry for my poor English grammar but I would like to add two things: this bridge was managed indirectly by a powerful Italian family, due to nearly non-existing maintenance they managed to get a big profit. They also got an enormous profit (many billion euros) after they sold Aspi (the bridge was managed by this society ) to the Italian state. This family was very proud about their social status, they have also called one of their company “ Schema 43” (the collapsed bridge left 43 dead ...) The family photographer during an interview literally said “who cares if a bridge falls”, he was brutal but also 100% true.

[@frozenhispanic3912]

english grammar is definitely not poor. don't sell yourself short ☺️

[@ptonpc]

Your English is far better than my Italian. Yes, I am concerned PD didn't mention the corruption involved.

[@8bitorgy]

How do you indirectly manage a bridge?

[@ptonpc]

@@8bitorgy The family would own the company, possibly through a proxy.

[@v1doc]

@@8bitorgy This italian family owned a society, this society has won a contract whit the Italian state to manage a highway. This contract could last for 5-10-20 years. The highway isn’t free and the motorists must pay a ticket but, if the society don’t get enough money from these tickets, in some case the society also receive additional money from the state. It’s an highly corrupted system an it’s one of many reason the italian economy is fucked up.

[@gamerkathan]

I'm amazed at how many of these bridge collapses have faults and cracks that covered up by apoxi and paint. Seems to me like putting a band aid on a gaping wound.

[@danielled8665]

Video game logic, remove a bullet or wrap a bandaid around it and boom, all better health is full don't ask questions.

[@chiroquacker2580]

And then they add unnecessary heavy stuff like lighting, more layers of pavement, self cleaning systems, etc to make it look pretty.

[@blorp.1956]

just fyi it's "epoxy" :)

[@denysvlasenko1865]

what do you prefer to be done with a concrete crack - NOT epoxied to prevent water ingress? I, for one, surprised how much concrete I see around NOT protected with any sort of sealant!

[@danielled8665]

@@denysvlasenko1865 in a bridge under tension? Don't use concrete in the first place.

[@javiersira6323]

The sister bridge to this is in Maracaibo my hometown, and to say that bridge is in desperate need of mantenience falls short, specially in the last 20 years, it's been at least 10 years since de last inspection and it's in very bad shape right now, I hope you don't have to make a video on that bridge as well... The last time I rode the bridge, the expansion joints on the highest section were so deteriorated that you could see the lake below though the gap... It was scary

[@ViewingChaos]

You might do well to write to your local politicians- it’s as much as you could probably do aside from advising people not to drive under/over it if they can

[@adamiotime]

I was travelling through Italy when this catastrophe happened. I was actually meant to be in Genoa that day to meet a friend, but the day before reorganised to meet in Milan instead. Absolutely crazy.

[@BiggestCorvid]

Well, There's Your Problem just uploaded an episode about this! I'm glad you did too, nice to have multiple perspectives on engineering disasters.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you

[@rubiconnn]

Dark History just uploaded a video on this about two weeks ago as well lol

[@marcg2106]

I had just seen a video about this a few weeks ago, probably Dark History's.

[@marvindebot3264]

@@rubiconnn I can't watch any of the darkchannels, that voiceover is just so annoying.

[@rubiconnn]

@@marvindebot3264 I don't think it's the same guy, it's a completely different voice. I know what guy you are talking about and I blocked every single channel of his lol.

[@LycanWitcher]

4:40 built in 1963. collapsed 2018. intended 50 year lifespan... 2018-1963 = 55 years.. so the bridge did hold up to it's intended/engineered lifespan. Disaster could have been avoided if this bridge was rebuilt or heavily inspected and retrofitted at it's 50th year. Seem to see that alot, bridges/structures built generations ago with intended life spans of 50, 75, 100 years or whatever, yet are still in operation beyond intended/engineered lifespans. We really need federal rules/regulation or law changes that make it illegal to continue to use infrastructure that is beyond their engineered lifespans, that a replacement must be built at that time or before or painstakingly/meticulous inspections and repairs/retrofit must be performed yearly beyond engineered lifespans.. regardless of cost, and if they can't afford to rebuild or perform meticulous inspections and costly repair/retrofits and a clean bill of health every year, then it stays shut down, regardless if it inconveniences the public. No ifs ands or buts, no exceptions, no loopholes.

[@kasuraga]

51 years from the opening of the bridge.

[@prasakmanitou4925]

In Bratislava, We used to have a bridge over Danube. It was built in 1945 by german POWs under Red army. With 15-year lifespan... until it's demolition in 2010

[@SupersuMC]

@@prasakmanitou4925 Dyang, that's impressive. That's more like a 65-year lifespan - over 4 times the original intention!

[@darraghmckenna9127]

It’s absolutely terrifying to see the CCTV footage of the car being thrown into the air before dropping.

[@AlessandroGenTLe]

I'm Italian and well remember this, I was a PM at the build-out of a new warehouse for that huge company with the name of the big Brazilian forest... And the guys making all the IT network cabling were all from Genoa... They were in shock. And, as usual here, later investigations found the bstrd that managed the highway in here, and responsible for the maintenance of this bridge, one of the richest families in Italy, taking money for maintenance, falsify the reports and use such money to invest in other countries... And they (as usual again) not to rot in prison.

[@billolsen4360]

The fix is always in. Governments appear to change, one party kicked out and another taking office like a breath of fresh air, but they're all people from the insider crowd, and exclusive club that fight bitterly with one another on the floor of the Senate then party together on the weekends.

[@ChasingOrionsSpur]

@Plainly Difficult - not sure everyone understands the effort you put into videos. Your attention to detail, scripting, and voiceover work is award worthy. Well done and I am addicted to your channel.

[@LRM12o8]

Morandi might not have built the best bridge, but he was no fool. He knew _exactly_ how long his bridge will last and I respect him for that. It was the government and the bridge operators listening to the money rather than the engineer who messed this up!

[@ashkebora7262]

Using cement _at all_ for an entirely tensile load is a bit stupid in any case. The cement only takes up weight capacity, _obviously_ gets in the way of maintenance of the actual load-baring parts, and also causes corrosion to focus on exposed areas. I seriously dislike people that take form over function for infrastructure...

[@Harry._.Thompson]

Well the design isn’t flawed, but proper maintenance would have avoided the issue. Form over function is fine as long as proper maintenance is carried out.

[@neilkurzman4907]

Listen again he said it was post tension. And the concrete wasn’t designed to take the load it was designed to protect the cables, and look good.

[@ashkebora7262]

@@neilkurzman4907 Yes, and that design was flawed from the start. Just because it was the plan doesn't make it a _good_ plan. The design is ABSOLUTELY flawed. They talked about it in the video. Not only were they WRONG about their idea of the cables being impervious to corrosion, the limited cable design reduced redundancy greatly, the cement shrank and made it a bit wonky, and it fell down as a result of these issues. That's flawed AT BEST. Flawed doesn't mean guaranteed to fall. Flawed means it has issues. If you think this bridge didn't have issues because of the design, you are simply in denial.

[@neilkurzman4907]

@@ashkebora7262 It’s amazing that that’s what you took from my comment. you said the concrete was used incorrectly over the cables because it’s in tension not compression. I pointed out that that statement was wrong and nothing else. As far as the design of the bridge, yes it was lacking. And it was also poorly maintained. A very bad combination. Also pointed out the video the tower that collapsed hadn’t been serviced like the other ones. The biggest design flaw of the bridge is that it was expensive to maintain. Which means it would not be as profitable as it could be to the company that owned it. I guess we’ll find out after the trial.

[@bubba99009]

@@Harry._.Thompson Pretty hard to maintain something encased in concrete. And pretty foolish to think that concrete is going to make anything immune to corrosion. We all know that isn't how it works with all the seriously corroded rebar we find everywhere.

[@eden.nd.]

Your mention of penny pinching infrastructure in Europe and the UK made me immediately think of the preventable tragedy at Grenfell tower, I'd love to see you make a video on that! It's disgusting that still nothing has been done and the cladding is on other buildings to this day.

[@chiroquacker2580]

That cladding had to be pretty freaking bad to be banned here in the USA. I respect the Brits and expect better from them.

[@eden.nd.]

@@chiroquacker2580 unfortunately this government are inhumane and not fit to serve 😔

[@cim4406]

I was just about to comment this! While I’m from the US; watching the info of Grenfell had me in TEARS!!

[@logvoid1559]

🤮

[@worldcomicsreview354]

I remember the fire wasn't even out and the reds were already trying to use it, apparently the cladding was so the nearby rich neighbours didn't have to look at concrete. They shoud clad concrete buildings with ceramic tiles, like in Japan, looks nice and they can even look like fake bricks, thus blending in "new" (60 year old) buildings with Victorian houses... sort of.

[@JK061996]

Yes, finally a video on the Morandi bridge! By the way 6:29 made me chuckle

[@fedomandez]

Loved the "mi hai fatto girare i coglioni" It's EXACTLY what we would say

[@bigjay875]

Yet another exelent video 👍. I look forward to seeing what you dig up each week. I have found your videos very useful in my life as a construction worker specifically as a welder/iron worker. The mistakes of the past are lesson that the wise take heed not too repeat. Throughout my career I've been able to prevent one major "ah shit" for sure by asking the right questions to the engineers and referencing one of your videos which resulted in a fairly major change to the prints and got me an "good save" off the record of course. But that's fine, as long as the guys working in refinery are saved from a bad day. I have also taken to adding more weld than prints state as well as convinced an engineer to use thicker gusset plates than what was originally planned as well as adding more gussets around all the connection points to the structure. Probably wouldn't make a difference but people do dumb things and a few extra hours and Dollars let me sleep well at night. I found this Chanel about a month after a major industrial accident which left a worker as a permanent vegetable. My lack of experience is why he's a vegetable I didn't understand that explosions happened sometimes at this company witch recycled aluminum and was told to weld 1/4 plate steel to forum a tunnel to prevent wind from blowing in on the guys manning the sorting line. Being this steel was about 5-6 stories in the air I welded the hell out of the joints. Being a very unexperienced apprentice I was unaware that some idiot had welded the blast doors around the hammer mill. And one day about 2 years after that job, at shift change a tank full of L.P. slipped by the one guy still manning the line and went into the hammer mill.... And boom! If this had happened with the line fully staffed 10 people would be vegetables or dead. Had I known about the blast doors existed, let alone being welded shut, I would have never accepted the job and insisted that at the very least the steel forming the tunnel be tack welded with chain welded to each sheet back to the structure so it couldn't fall on anyone. To this day that accident really bothers me and makes my heart hurt. I was found not at fault, but that's little relief when I know theirs a wife and kids that lost they're father and husband. I still live in the community where this happened, and drive by that plant ,2-9 times a week. Being reminded of my shortcomings. Always ask questions and remember your work may stand longer than it was intended. sorry about the long story this is the first time I've shared this on line and if there are questions I'll do my best to answer the best I can.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you

[@ariariaris]

That must be heavy. I’ve never actually been in the industry but i was part of a student metal workshop back in uni. Learning to weld and use the machines for our design courses. So many close calls, both for me and other students. Watching over a lot of people and being responsible for them must difficult. I remember when we just started we were all annoyed at the supervisors for being such hardasses and not letting us in to do our coursework just because we’d forget our safety goggles or work boots or whatnot. Until a guy in our class lost 3 fingers on his left hands of course. I have a little scar on my upper lip from a white-hot piece of slag a classmate was sanding off with an angle grinder. I wasn’t wearing my goggles because I thought I was far enough (Still got me from 6 meters away though). Luckily it didn’t get me in the eye. Pleople don’t get how important safety is until someone gets hurt. If you don’t mind me asking, what kind of thing did you help prevent, and which PD video did you reference?

[@kylebroflovski5333]

How on earth are single point of failure bridges allowed for such large and important bridges.

[@anyjen]

But redundancies are ugly and cost money!! /s

[@danielled8665]

~☆☆Architects☆☆~

[@danielled8665]

@@PBFoote-mo2zr designer in that situation just needs a sewing machine. An hour to cut out a pattern for a bean bag chair cover and maybe another to sew it. But at least the designer isn't trying to built a structural supporting beanbag chair that is integral to keeping the house from falling down.

[@connarcomstock161]

>Say the bridge will last 50 years. >Bridge lasts 51. Pretty sure it did what it said on the tin.

[@trespire]

As an Italian friend once told me, "We are all about form, and no substance". In this case this had tragic consiquences.

[@copperlocke]

The amount of background research you did was amazing, I had no idea that this story started well before the collapse itself. Thank you

[@fra.inti125]

i am an italian, and i fondly remeber that when the new bridge was inaugurated they played a documentary on TV talking about the analysis of the failure, demolition and reconstruction. they played a video of a firefighter holding a stick of the pylons's concrete that was 50 centimetres in length and 5 centimeters in diameter. he broke it like it was a wooden yardstick.

[@worldcomicsreview354]

Look up "tofu dreg", the cheaply-made buildings in China, some of the stuff in those videos is horrifying. Apparently loads of people there are now refusing to pay mortgage payments, presumably because their buildings actually cost about 50p.

[@aliccolo]

This collapse happened one week after I moved to Italy and it still lingers in my mind a lot.

[@TrojanHell]

This one hits different then a lot of the other ones you've covered. I remember my friend and my brother being in holiday in the area, and my parents going on holiday only shortly after toward Italy. Its really confronting watching the headlights of one of the cars go down with the rubble and remembering those minutes to hours until I knew all of the people I knew were ok...

[@chiroquacker2580]

It was the same for us in Florida, USA when the Sunshine Skyway collapsed after being hit by a ship.

[@TrojanHell]

@@chiroquacker2580 I can imagine, I mean I'm a Dutchy talking about a few relatives on holiday. I can't imagine what the people in Genoa who lived there felt like, let alone those who lived beneath the bridge or worked there... I have this realisation often with the Plainly Difficult videos, but this is the first one that was close enough to home and recent enough to remember what I felt like and actually feeling partially involved in the accident through proxy.

[@TrojanHell]

@L F Lmao sure buddy, my friend literally was on holiday more or less next to this bridge and I spent most of the day hoping they were alive. But you do you, not all of us choose to actually show our emotions like healthy people.

[@Votrae]

PD does such a great job getting the point across; trying to learn about these complex topics takes a toll on me after a while. He spans the gap between engineer and infrastructure enjoyers like myself so well.

[@lairdcummings9092]

A design from an era where less was known about weather and environmental resistance, plus budget constraints and decades of casual neglect; the results are foregone. Italy has a bad habit of making criminal cases when public emotions are running high, even in the absence of actual observed criminal behavior, but in this case, there's good cause. Unfortunately, the common social habit of 'letting things slide' and 'eh, we'll pay for it later' cannot be put on trial - not in Italy, nor anywhere else.

[@tamaslapsanszki8744]

Wow, I still remember this disaster! Is it weird that I feel old because there are now youtube videos about disasters I lived through? 9/11, Madrid train bombings, 2004 tsunami, Fukushima, Ajka alumina spill, Genoa Morandi bridge etc

[@Bakamoichigei]

Heh, it's never a surprise when the same subject pops up on here _and_ the "Well There's Your Problem" podcast but I think this is the first time you've both covered the same disaster in the same week! 😁

[@Progamer1013]

3:30 People really need to stop calling things "Impervious, Indestructible and Unsinkable." History has shown otherwise.

[@ZombieSazza]

Honestly the fact 16 survived is extremely surprising, I didn’t expect any survivors.

[@analoghabits9217]

Whatever your field of work, the line that you should never compromise is safety. I install speaker systems & tvs, the corner i never cut is ensuring that mounted tvs/speakers won't fall on children. Design choices such as trying to appear simple should only ever dip into noncritical tradeoffs that will never compromise safety. I love my work, but with how strongly i feel about this value it makes me want to be in an industry like bridge building that requires courage & integrity from its workers to ensure widespread safety.

[@CasinoWoyale]

"i never cut is ensuring that mounted tvs/speakers won't fall on children." So their falling on adults would be OK?

[@jaykace5160]

Oh yeah! Another beautiful Saturday with another amazing plainly difficult, keep up the amazing work! I always look forward to Saturday morning becuase of these videos!

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you

[@rocksandoil2241]

Working with engineers, few people realize bridges and dams were built with a life span expectation and 50 years is a common design life. Without substantial maintenance expected life is reduced. Ditto dams - often 100 year lifespans expected. I worked on dams that are now 50 years old and they won't even keep trees off the dirt portions of the dam...a Damoclean Sword waiting to fall.

[@ronaldguild3627]

Much more in depth video than others i have seen on the same collapse.

[@grapeshot]

Nobody talks about fixing the bridge until it comes out from underneath you when you're going across it.

[@foreverpinkf.7603]

There are a few terms that trigger me always: unsinkable, indestructible, ever lasting, maintenance free and cost reduction. All of them are leading to disaster in one or the other way. As an old man once said "Rust never sleeps". Never ever.

[@quixoticcoyoticcannibalystic]

Ive been following you on youtube for about 5 whole years now i think... and i really like the tracks youve been sliding into your videos that you make/produce yourself...the sound is magnifique♡

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you yes they are self made kzbin.info/door/TJKjPWNMe27wg5T7yk9OnQ

[@franzneumann9809]

Awesome documentary. I am Genoese and that day i was working at Basko supermarket, the truck you see there, on the edge of the collapsed structure was supposed to come to the very point of sale i was working. I remember that rainy day as it was yesterday, the superiors let us contact our families and check if they were ok, thank god nobody had relatives that died that day, but a deep sense of grief remained for the poor souls that lost their lifes. As an italian as an habitant of Genova this disigrace hit hard my city and i feel ashame for my country that the victims don't have justice up to this day.

[@ewhays]

Another great documentary! I went from forgetting this happened to having 2 fantastic videos in 2 days. Well There's Your Problem and PD should do an actual collaboration instead of coincidence.

[@Phobero]

That hit close to home. I mean literally: I was at home from work when all of a sudden the ground shook like there was an earthquake - and then the news broke. A sad, terrible day for the victims, their relatives and also our neighbourhoods😌

[@petschitt2252]

Lovin' your "Made By John" KZbin channel. 😻 Keep up the great work, Mate! Cheers 🍻

[@aliksanderj9729]

I’ve gotta say, you’re one of my favourite channels cause of the weather updates each sign off

[@RCAvhstape]

Designer: "politicians, remember to inspect the cables regularly" Engineers: "politicians, the cables are in bad shape. Spend money or else disaster is coming" Politicians: "sorry not spending any money. Besides we passed off responsibility for this to some corporation so we can ignore it" Bridge: collapes Politicians: "Designers and engineers, we're blaming you, go to jail!"

[@vicic2779]

Found the yankee

[@itzpro5951]

@@vicic2779 dense

[@cezarcatalin1406]

Corporatists who took the maintenance money and turned them into profits: I did nothing wrong

[@MythCraft00]

In the months after the collapse, many political TV programmes sent reporters to inspect other major bridges around the country. Dozens have been filmed with chunks of concrete dropping off and rusted rebar exposed to the air. I do believe that another Morandi collapse could happen at any moment for the usual, sad truth: maintenance is considered an avoidable cost

[@spider0804]

"We found a problem in 1980 and let it continue to 2018." Shocking that something went astray.

[@joannayeo9545]

Thank you. I know naff all about construction but through your channel I am finding it incredibly interesting. Well done xx

[@Bananabeacon]

We were on vacation in Italy that summer and 1 hour away from Genoa. We wanted to visit Genoa on the 14th of August and we would have departed around an hour before the collapse if it wasn't for bad weather! It's crazy to think about the fact that I was almost on that bridge when it collapsed! Anyways, thanks for all the information and insights you've given me on this case! It was very interesting and informative!

[@WindTurbineSyndrome]

I found this bridge disaster fascinating when it happened. A lot of the housing under the bridge spanning the tiny river had to be condemned. The Italian private company involved in bridge upkeep was trying to cut costs even tho they knew the concrete rebar on that bridge was rotting.

[@xladycaosx]

Also some of those houses were so close to the bridge (I remember a picture of this one house almost touching a pillar), I wonder how that was that considered safe (probably a rhetorical question)

[@fhs7838]

I recently drove through this bridge in ETS2. I still remember just ETS2 expand its map to Italy in 2017, and I expended my business area into Italy, and soon heard about the news of bridge collapse. Very shocking...

[@Mysixofnine]

Thanks John for another great video!! 🍻

[@ingvarhallstrom2306]

Due to the many Italian housing collapses from houses built in the same time period being caused by shoddy workmanship, corruption, and the use of poor quality concrete I suspect the same issues being the foundation of the corroding concrete problem with the bridge. This is Italy and corruption was rampant in those days.

[@SonofTheMorningStar666]

Corruption in Italy? No way!

[@rayoflight62]

In the case of the Morandi bridge, the failure wasn't caused by corruption, shoddy execution or substandard materials. The failure had two causes: 1) a design error, where reinforced concrete was used in tension (normally it is used under compression) for aesthetic reasons; 2) the company who owned the bridge, provided no maintenance along the years...

[@ingvarhallstrom2306]

@@rayoflight62 I'm talking the general wear of the surface material, not the construction itself. The fact they had to lay a new road foundation only ten years after tells me the appliance of material was sub standard. The fact that One of the pylons faired better than the others tells me it wasn't just because of salty winds from the sea but uneven workmanship where that pylon was simply better made than the other, or rather the other pylons was substandard. I'm talking corruption on contractor level here, where I suspect some of the contractors cheapened out on the build quality to raise their profit.

[@pseudotasuki]

Sounds a bit like the Arecibo Radio Telescope. It had all these vital steel components embedded in concrete, making them impossible to inspect for corrosion. There was enough redundancy that it didn't immediately collapse after the first (and then second) cable snapped, but by then it was just barely holding itself together.

[@bobroberts2371]

There is close up vid of the cables during the final failure. The cables were not encased in concrete. Perhaps you are thinking of the end fittings where the actual cable strands are attached to the clevis.

[@TheRocco96]

Arecibo got hit by a hurricane, and after 2 cables snapped it was considered unsafe to attempt to repair it, so spontaneous demolition was unavoidable.

[@handlesarefeckinstupid]

It was, as another commenter has said damaged. It was also woefully under maintained

[@maliuuum]

I remember seeing this on the tv a few years back (im from italy, but i used to live abroad with my family. we always visited during the summer). it was so scary to me, being still a teenager; i still have this image in my mind of a truck that had stopped meters away from the fallen part of the bridge. i had never seen something of this magnitude happen so close to me, which was honestly shocking

[@patrickbuick5459]

It seems there is an abundance of these "Oops, we didn't realize concrete isn't waterproof and the steel oxidizes inside" type accidents in the past decade and on an increasing scale it seems. I expressed a concern that they stopped work on a bridge here for a couple of years and just left the girders out unprotected in the salt air elements, then used them to build the bridge when construction resumed. I probably won't be around when it falls, but I'm pretty sure it will.

[@robertpierce1981]

Shrinkage exceeded expectations I’ve been turned down for the same reasons.

[@flowgangsemaudamartoz7062]

Well its not supposed to shrink, its supposed to inflate. But too much inflation aint good either.

[@JK061996]

It was raining so a bit of shrinkage was to be expected

[@budlanctot3060]

I remember seeing a picture of the old bridge when it was new. The roadway was noticeably uneven: undulating forwards & backwards, left and right.. Also, it was obvious it had very low curbs separating vehicles from pedestrian walkways, and separating the directions of traffic from each other. They also showed a newer picture showing roadway safety improvements, implemented over the years, from nearly the same perspective showing a much large concrete center divider(at least 20x more massive) like you might see on a freeway, today, and much higher concrete curbs at least twice(if not 3x) as large as original curbs. That constant extra load certainly did not help the deteriorating condition of the old bridge. I'm surprised you didn't show those pictures.

[@sisamusudroka3000]

He mentioned it at 8:39

[@budlanctot3060]

@@sisamusudroka3000 I know. Why didn't he show those pics was my point.

[@mauricedavis2160]

Plainly Difficult, your channel is awesome, thank you Mate for your hard work and great videos!!!🙏👍👻

[@DeathMetalDerf]

Today is going to be a good day. I woke up to this in my notifications, so I had to get myself situated and get to watching. I look forward to every one!

[@jarodfindley9456]

I literally watched a short documentary on this last night and said I can't wiat for the new plainly difficult

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you

[@whollymindless]

Lasted 50 years. As designed. Sadly.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Sadly true

[@marcelovolcato8892]

As usual your content is top notch! Congratulations!

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you so much 😀

[@nationofvillians1620]

That was a great video, man. I didnt even know about this back then.

[@christianhalstead6063]

If the Italians put the same care into building and maintenance as they put into food and style this wouldn't have happened.

[@skyrangerbob]

Meanwhile... bridges built by the Romans still stand 2k years later.

[@johnnycee5179]

Lol, how about that. If you look at mankind as a whole they aren't getting smarter are they?

[@j.t.5178]

I was wondering when you were going to cover this! Great job!

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thanks again!

[@georgefspicka5483]

Hi John, as interesting and informative as ever :)

[@loonatticat]

@14:19 the replacement bridge appears to be suffering corrosion already. The pylon at right is streaked with rust, hopefully from a non-critical component.

[@joethebrowser2743]

Great channel 👍🏻🇬🇧

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you

[@RainbowMama143]

We just got a new bridge in my area and this channel has me side-eyeing it

[@pluxauag7555]

You and Astrobiscuit Channel are legends of South East London.

[@michaelholston2233]

I'm early!!!!! Denver CO loves Plainly Difficult.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you

[@michaelholston2233]

@@PlainlyDifficult hey John, you teach me more than anyone else doing the same stuff. And I have learned that man is probably not the smartest of the species on the planet. Thank you

[@MarisCorner15]

You should do an episode about a bicycle bridge in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil that collapsed in 2016. It was called the Tim Maia Bike Lane

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thanks for the suggestion!

[@LaurenRoyalWoods]

So funny that you and Well There’s Your Problem posted this week about the same disaster, lol. So nice to get the story twice!

[@ginevragobbato604]

I’m Italian and…let me tell you… I DID NOT expect you to make a video on this but I’m very much pleased haha

[@0therun1t21]

Yay, I'm early! I don't recall hearing about this, I mean, bridge failure is a pretty big deal. It's a beautiful bridge, I wish it wasn't tragic.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Happy days!

[@woolfoma]

Expected 50 year life-span, Collapsed after 51 years. Say what you will about design, maintenance or otherwise: Sometimes shit needs to be replaced, bean counters are always responsible in some way.

[@Saucyakld]

Drove over that bridge, amazing to see and drive over! thank goodness it collapsed three years after

[@rebeckarydberg]

I really like your videos and the amount of information you dig up about the history of each projekt. I would love to see a video of the Tjörn-bridge collapse in Sweden 1980, where a cargoship accidentally crashed. The only videos ive found are in swedish and dont have a lot of information.