The Italian Grenfell
Dr Barbara Marino
Strategic Development & Compliance Director Built Environment @Keltbray
The Italian Grenfell. Too many the parallels between the two tragedies.
They are catastrophes with multiple fatalities. Issues with regards to the safety of the tower first and this bridge now were apparently raised many times in the past.
As in June last year, when everyone became fire experts overnight, we are now surrounded by structural engineering gurus with forensic skills capable of extracting from a clouded you tube video the exact causes of the collapse of a motorway viaduct.
A national tragedy has become, within minutes of the events taking place, the perfect political weapon to shamelessly blame previous administrations and to try (very hard) to demonstrate that Italy has now got the perfect government.
This event has already triggered concerns with regards to the entire infrastructure network in Italy, roads, bridges, railways. The Infrastructure minister has already promised a programme of surveys on the entire network…..good luck!
I have followed the Italian news all day, all I can see, and that I will remember, is the relentless efforts of the rescue services trying to locate and save who is still trapped under the rubbles and in doing do risking their lives. The Italian rescue services are amongst the best in the world, they are used to this, they are trained to extract people from collapsed structures, normally because of earthquakes but not something like this.
All I can think is that, in this tragedy, the part of the bridge which collapsed was the central one and not the one above the residential areas. How and why this happened…it will take time and probably there will not be the same diligent process followed for Grenfell, no independent enquiry, no public enquiry. Let’s see if this Italian government is truly different from the previous ones.
I am no structural engineering guru, there are not many of them and they are not giving interviews now or not yet. But the engineering community should do just one thing now, SAY NOTHING! No speculations (a lightening can make a bridge collapse, really?), no best guessing, no superficial conclusions. Just hope the number of casualties doesn’t increase and spare a thought for the families of those who were, today, in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Garé en bon etat.
6 年Let all of us involved in maintenance of bridges be so smart to wait what the results from the inquiries are instead of going with the politicians and drawing conclusions based on assumptions. We owe that to our colleagues who are responsible for the maintenance of this bridge. If maintenance or inspection is to blame the shit will undoubtedly be shovelled to the lowest positions.
Team Leader - Structures at AECOM
6 年I think it is not the time to make comments. It is rather the time to mourn the victims of this important, unfortunate, catastrofic event. A considerable amount of information needs to be gathered before anyone can make any educted observation. An official enquiry, I guess, will start soon and I hope/guess all the relevant information will be made available.?
Business Director - Civil & Structural Engineering at Beca Singapore | Consulting Engineer | Structure, Architecture, Earthquake, Heritage, Art, High Rise, Sustainability | PE(Civil)(S) | CPEng(NZ)
6 年Barbara - the unfortunate fact is?in the absence of comments from the knowledgeable ones, then we get plethora of semi-professional and amateurs commentary.? I think engineers need not shy away from making observation and offering their considerations, but certainly it should be informed and considered. I don't think it was a structural?engineer who made the claim about the lightning. That said, some structural professors can be a little outrageous in their opinions.
Co-Founder & Managing Director at UBIPOS UK LTD?? - A World Leading Geospatial Science Applications and Solutions Company. Forbes 30 Under 30 Nominee. UN COP 26 and 28 Keynote Company for Future Low Carbon Mobility.
6 年Dr Barbara Marino: My company is a world leading specialist bridge structural health monitoring firm. Lets meet up for a coffee and exchange views on this matter.?
Managing Director at Mason Navarro Pledge Ltd
6 年A terrible tragedy Barbara. When events like this happen people will always say more should have been done. But from what I have read so far it seems all the warnings were there to have taken this bridge out of operation. Technology widely criticised decades ago...