Genoa bridge that collapsed had a 'huge flaw that maintenance missed'

A bridge that collapsed killing at least 26 people in the Italian city of Genoa was almost certainly brought down by a fatal flaw in its construction or wear and tear inspectors missed, experts say. A huge 260ft section of the 50-year-old Morandi bridge gave way about 11.30am on Tuesday as the arterial highway west of the city centre was packed with cars and trucks. Cars fell 150ft along with tonnes of twisted steel and concrete debris into a river, railroad tracks and an industrial zone below, flattening vehicles and leaving rubble embedded in buildings. Devastation: Dozens are feared dead after a 260ft section of a highway bridge suddenly collapsed during a storm in Genoa, Italy. Pictured: A green truck is perched on the brink more videos 1 2 3 Watch video Scott Morrison announces Australia is under cyber attack Watch video Moment hundreds of tiny 'alien eggs' leap off the ground Watch video Dame Barbara Windsor's husband speaks about his wife's Alzheimers Watch video Heart-stopping moment officer saves from baby choking on coin Watch video Project Lincoln releases new ad blasting Trump as 'not well' Watch video Forces' Sweetheart Dame Vera Lynn passes away at the age of 103 Watch video Protester against Macron gets tackled to ground by Met Police Watch video Amusing moment family of bears have fun time in playground Watch video White resident of Florida gated community yells at black teen Watch video The knotweed dog-tectives! The dogs who can root out invasive weed Watch video Devin Brosnan is released on a recognizance bond Watch video Trump posts 'racist baby' video to his Twitter An aerial view of the collapsed bridge shows just how much of the busy highway collapsed and crashed to the ground - and how close several vehicles came to falling with it Witnesses said the bridge was hit by lightning seconds before it collapsed and was seen 'wobbling', but engineers rubbished the idea that a bolt from above had anything to do with the disaster.  'It couldn't have been lightning. I don't see how that would be possible as it's reinforced concrete and it's certainly never happened before,' Agathoklis Giaralis, deputy director of the University of London's Civil Engineering Structures Research Centre, told MailOnline. He said the bridge, which was completed in 1967, must have been flawed in its construction, likely in the foundations, or suffered from extensive corrosion in its metallic parts.  'For such a bridge to collapse it has to be something serious that went unnoticed in maintenance and inspections,' he said. A survivor with a head would is winched out of the debris on a stretcher by a fire crew after being found among the rubble As night fell on the city of Genoa, the massive pile of rubble was illuminated on the skyline in the nearby neighbourhood 'It's an old bridge that was difficult to inspect from the start and doesn't have the redundancies that modern bridges do, so it is likely that one failure could lead to its collapse.' Dr Giaralis said the metal parts, particularly the cables, of a bridge like the Morandi are the weakest parts but this bridge didn't fail there - pointing to bigger underlying issues. 'Usually these fail due to corrosion and that a process that takes decades, and it is very unusual that something that can cause total collapse went unnoticed,' he said. 'I would say that most probably something went wrong with the foundation or supporting ground rather than with the pier, the deck, or the cables.' Dr Giaralis said the bridge was fully loaded with cars and there was wind, which may have triggered the collapse but would not have been the underlying cause as both should not be an issue for a healthy bridge. Photos from Google Maps showed the bridge with what appeared to be spot repairs in the months leading up to the collapse, as it had been under repair since 2016. Dr Giaralis said they were most likely patches to replace spalling concrete and ensure that reinforcement was covered to avoid long term corrosion. He said they likely were unrelated to the collapse, which was caused by much more fundamental structural errors.  Engineering experts also warned two years ago that it would be more cost effective to knock the bridge down than to continue to repair the 'uneven' construction.  Photos from Google Maps showed the bridge with what appeared to be spot repairs in the months leading up to the collapse, as it had been under repair since 2016.  Dr Giaralis said they were most likely patches to replace spalling concrete and ensure that reinforcement was covered to avoid long term corrosion He said they likely were unrelated to the collapse, which was caused by much more fundamental structural errors In the early 1990s, the suspension cables along the bridge had to be replaced, and further restructuring work was carried out in 2016.  In 2016, Antonio Brencich, associate professor of civil engineering at the University of Genoa warned that the Morandi Bridge's maintenance costs 'are so exorbitant that it would be cheaper to build a new one'. 'Right away the bridge manifested various problems, beyond the construction costs, willisbullock1.mystrikingly.com which went over budget,' he wrote in 2016. 'There are errors in this bridge. Sooner or later it will have to be replaced. I don't know when,' he warned. In the article, quoted by Il Tempo, Professor Brencich says issues with the bridge being uneven and 'semi-horizontal' had plagued the construction since the early 1980s. In December 2016, Genoan newspaper Il Secolo XIX claimed maintenance of bridges in the area had been lacking funds because authorities 'preferred to allocate more funds to new works'. The paper accused officials in the Liguria region of only making important restorations when issues with bridges had become obvious. The disaster shocked the world but many locals feared the bridge would collapse for years and held their breath every time they crossed the vital arterial road. 'The state of the bridge always concerned us. Nobody has ever crossed that bridge with a light heart,' Genoa resident Elizabeth told the BBC. 'Everybody has always done it praying that the bridge wouldn't fall down. Today that happened.' There were also concerns the Italian mafia could have contributed to the bridge's collapse by their construction companies being involved in maintenance work - including shoring up the foundations. 'Mafia-related companies are known to have infiltrated the cement and reconstruction industries over the decades and prosecutors have accused them of doing shoddy work that cannot withstand high stress,' Canada's Globe and Mail wrote. 'The Mafia is notorious for nabbing reconstruction contracts after earthquakes and cutting corners.' Franco Roberti, then head of Italy's anti-Mafia directorate, said in 2016 that mafia-related companies should not be able to participate in earthquake reconstruction work for that reason.  'There are risks; it is useless to hide it,' he told Italy's La Repubblica newspaper at the time. 'The risk of infiltration is always high. Postearthquake reconstruction is a tasty morsel for criminal organizations and business interests.'   more videos 1 2 3 Watch video Scott Morrison announces Australia is under cyber attack Watch video Moment hundreds of tiny 'alien eggs' leap off the ground Watch video Dame Barbara Windsor's husband speaks about his wife's Alzheimers Watch video Heart-stopping moment officer saves from baby choking on coin Watch video Project Lincoln releases new ad blasting Trump as 'not well' Watch video Forces' Sweetheart Dame Vera Lynn passes away at the age of 103 Watch video Protester against Macron gets tackled to ground by Met Police Watch video Amusing moment family of bears have fun time in playground Watch video White resident of Florida gated community yells at black teen Watch video The knotweed dog-tectives! The dogs who can root out invasive weed Watch video Devin Brosnan is released on a recognizance bond Watch video Trump posts 'racist baby' video to his Twitter Carnage: The Morandi bridge collapsed at 11.30am local time. It was built on the A10 toll motorway in the 1960s and was restructured in 2016 Rubble: Most of the collapsed parts of the bridge fell to railway tracks and the river below as firefighters rushed to the scene Dramatic pictures from the scene show how cars were crushed in the rubble as the bridge came crashing down during the storm Scenes of devastation as trucks and cars are smashed as they fell to the ground when the bridge collapsed, or were crushed by falling debris Firefighters drag either a body or one of just a few survivors found inside mangled cars like this one, which was completely flattened by falling debris Incredibly, four people have been pulled alive from cars found in the mangled ruins of the bridge while two warehouses below the structure were empty having been closed for the summer holiday. Dramatic photos shows how a green truck had stopped just short of the gaping hole in the bridge, which was built on the A10 toll motorway in northwestern Italy in the 1960s. Work to shore up its foundations was being carried out at the time of the collapse, highway operators say. The exact cause of the disaster, the latest in a string of bridge collapses in Italy, is not yet clear but Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli said it showed the dilapidated state of the country's infrastructure and a lack of maintenance, adding that 'those responsible will have to pay.' 'There has not been sufficient maintenance and checks, and safety work for many bridges and viaducts and bridges in Italy constructed, almost all, during the 1960s,' he said. Mr Toninelli said the operator of the section of highway including the bridge claimed maintenance work was up to date. However, he added a €20 million (£17.8 million) bidding process for significant safety work on the bridge was coming up. The bridge operator said there was no way to predict that the structure would come down. Autostrade's Genoa area director, Stefano Marigliani, said: 'The collapse was unexpected and unpredictable.' 'The bridge was constantly monitored and supervised well beyond what the law required. There was no reason to consider the bridge dangerous.'