How Safe Is SA's Morandi Bridge?

The designer of the Genoa viaduct that catastrophically collapsed in August also had a hand in several South African bridges, including the one that spans the Storms River.

AFTER THE RECENT CATASTROPHIC collapse of Genoa’s Ponte Morandi, killing more than 60 people, Noseweek has dis-covered that the bridge’s reknowned designer, civil engineer Professor Riccardo Morandi, also designed South Africa’s most famous bridge that spans Storms River on the Garden Route.

Although distinctly different in design from the Genoa bridge, known as the trademark Morandi design, the South African Roads Agency Ltd (Sanral’s) bridge Network Manager, civil engineer Edwin Kruger said they were “fully aware” of Morandi’s design involvement in the Paul Sauer Bridge, now better known as the Storms River Bridge.