MILAN, August 2, 2020 – Fifteen months after construction began on Genoa’s new bridge, Webuild and Fincantieri deliver the keys to the completed structure to Marco Bucci, the city’s mayor and the project’s extraordinary commissioner. Work on the fixtures on the top part of the bridge is complete, the static load test certification has been issued, and the  final inspection ahead of the opening of the bridge to traffic has been conducted. With the signing of the final documents to formalise the transfer of the bridge from the commissioner to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and, subsequently, the concession operator that will take charge of the bridge and open it.

Webuilid and Fincantieri have handed over all the technical and quality documentation that covers a year of construction for the 1,067 metres of the bridge with its 18 piers up to 45 metres high that support the deck, its 19 spans and 67,000 cubic metres of reinforced concrete. A demanding project that took 420 days, from the laying of the first pier to the delivery of the bridge. It involved more than 10,100 hours of work, meaning every day since the start save for Christmas and a few days of bad weather. It was a job performed 24 hours a day, seven days a week that involved more than 1,000 people representing 40 trades. They worked non-stop in parallel at 20 workstations on site, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, making it a flagship project for the country. Everyone who took part in their endeavour has their name engraved on a plaque, which was unveiled in the presence of Genoa Archbishop Mons. Tasca on July 27 when the orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia performed. It will be placed on one of the piers.

“This bridge is the dream of a lifetime,” said Webuild Chief Executive Pietro Salini. “We were able to do something beautiful. And we did it with heart – whatever profit that we might earn from this project will go to charity.”

“We put a lot of skill and passion into this project, just like the notes of the music that sounded throughout the valley for our tradesmen during the concert of July 27,” continued Salini. “We worked day and night with a sense of civic duty. We were proud to collaborate with 330 small companies from all over Italy, every one of them representing the excellence of our ‘Made in Italy’. It was an example of team spirit, the same that inspires our Progetto Italia: practicality, extraordinary competence and passion. Today we deliver the keys to the bridge that belongs to all Italians. We show the world that we are able to create public works that are innovative and safe, because the lives of those who work and use bridges, roads, trains and metros every day remain an absolute priority. We unfurl this flag of commitment and success to recover so many lost years and opportunities, working to help the country take a new turn so that we can leave an inheritance to the next generation.”

The final days of work – which did not stop even during the concert performed by the orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia directed by Maestro Antonio Pappano on July 27 – have seen the laying of the final layer of asphalt four centimetres thick, the installation of the horizontal and vertical signage and the setting up of the robotic system that will inspect the structure and allow for any preventive maintenance. On the ground, secondary work will continue and not impact the use of the Saint George Bridge, which will be inaugurated in the presence of President Sergio Mattarella and President Giuseppe Conte on August 3.