Genoa bridge verdict closes first trial; 32 convicted of negligence in 2018 collapse

An Italian court on Thursday sentenced Giovanni Castellucci, the former CEO of Autostrade per l'Italia, to 12 years in prison for his role in the 2018 collapse of the Morandi bridge in Genoa. The Guardian reported that 32 defendants in total were convicted of negligence and vehicular homicide, while 25 others were acquitted or cleared of charges. The collapse, which sent vehicles plunging onto railway tracks below, killed 43 people and exposed what France 24 described as serious lapses in the maintenance of Italy's ageing infrastructure.

The verdict marks the conclusion of the first trial stemming from the disaster, which occurred on August 15, 2018, when a 260-metre section of the motorway bridge buckled beneath traffic. The BBC reported that families of the 43 victims attended the courtroom as judges delivered their rulings. For residents and port operators in Genoa, the collapse had immediate consequences: the bridge served as a critical artery for vehicles moving between the city's port and the motorway network, and its sudden loss disrupted shipping logistics and trade flows that depend on rapid ground access to the waterfront.

The trial has laid bare a pattern familiar to Italy's infrastructure management. According to Al Jazeera, the case highlighted how the disaster could have been prevented—maintenance records showed that structural problems were known but inadequately addressed. The conviction of senior executives signals that Italian courts are willing to impose accountability for infrastructure failures, a shift that carries weight for port cities like Genoa where ageing bridges, viaducts and access roads remain critical to commerce and safety.