Four months after the collapse that cost 43 lives and disrupted an entire region's cross-border transport, Italian engineers prepare to destroy and rebuild.
ADVERTISEMENTPreliminary demolition work has begun around the Morandi bridge in Genoa below the still-standing section west of where the central span collapsed on August 14, killing 43 people.
Inhabitants of the city are keen to see a replacement for a bridge the city once felt proud of, but which proved to be compromised by fatal flaws.
Life without a crossing is difficult.
"We want to solve a problem of infrastructure and mobility important not only for the city but also for the region, for this part of northern Italy, and I dare say, also for Switzerland and France," said the Mayor of Genoa and Commissioner for the reconstruction of the bridge Marco Bucci.
On Monday court hearings into the disaster will establish when demolition can begin, and what needs to be preserved for the purposes of the investigation.
On Tueday the name of the company that has won the tender to build a new bridge is due to be announced.