Officials knew collapsed Italian bridge was weaker

An Italian news magazine reported Monday that the bridge that collapsed last week in Genoa was known to have weakened by 20 percent, but engineering experts did nothing about it. In February, engineers determined that corrosion had degraded the metal cables supporting the bridge, but they did not try to limit traffic on it. A large section of the Morandi Bridge collapsed Tuesday during a heavy downpour, killing 43 people and forcing the evacuation of 600 nearby residents. L’Espresso reporter Fabrizio Gatti told SKY TG24 that a reduction of 20 percent strength normally would not be significant, but officials should have paid more attention to the Morandi Bridge, which was built in the 1960s and had known flaws in its design. Prosecutors are still investigating the cause of the bridge collapse but have not identified any specific targets.