Ex highways company CEO Castellucci gets 12 years for Morandi-bridge disaster

Giovanni Castellucci, the former CEO of the Autostrade per l'Italia (ASPI) highways company, was given a 12-year term on Thursday for the 2018 Morandi-bridge-collapse disaster in Genoa in which 43 people died.

Prosecutors had requested a term of 18 years, six months.

Castellucci is already in jail as he is serving a six-year term related to a crash on the A16 highway in 2013 near to the town of Monteforte Irpino, in the province of Avellino, in which 40 people died.

He was among 57 people on trial in Genoa in relation to the bridge collapse, including the former managers and technical officials of ASPI and its SPEA maintenance and road safety arm.

The prosecution said that many of the defendants knew that the motorway viaduct could collapse but did nothing to prevent this from happening.

ASPI and SPEA themselves are no longer involved in the criminal trial after a plea bargain to pay damages of around 30 million euros.

On Wednesday ASPI's current CEO Arrigo Giana finally apologized for the disaster on the company's behalf in an open letter published in Corriere della Sera.

The remains of the Morandi bridge were demolished and another viaduct designed by starchitect Renzo Piano opened in August 2020 took its place.

Piano, a Genoa native, created the design for the new bridge for free as a gift to the city.

The audacious new structure has been named the Genoa San Giorgio Bridge.

It features sail-like structures, to reflect the northwestern port city's rich maritime heritage.

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