(Reuters) — Atlantia’s toll road unit defended its risk management on Wednesday after a newspaper reported police had seized documents suggesting that concerns over the safety of a bridge in Genoa that collapsed last year had been raised as early as 2014.
Autostrade per l’Italia said it had always maintained a rigorous approach to risk management and adopted all appropriate preventive measures.
“Contrary to the interpretation contained in the article, this indicates in reality that the company is not prepared to accept operating risks to infrastructure,” it said in a statement.
The daily la Repubblica reported on Wednesday that police had seized documents that dated back to 2014, which mentioned a risk of collapse for the bridge in Genoa, four years before the disaster which killed 43 people in August last year.
The Morandi motorway bridge in the Italian city of Genoa collapsed during a rainstorm on Aug. 14, plunging about 35 cars and several trucks onto railway tracks below, TheLocal.it reported citing media sources. About 200 meters of the viaduct collapsed while the bridge was undergoing maintenance work. The bridge connects the regions of Lombardy and Piedmont to the eastern part of Liguria and extends over dozens of railway lines and an industrial zone.