Why Bridges Collapse
Program Details
Are the world’s bridges at risk?
A masterpiece of the postwar construction boom, the Polcevera Bridge stood as a landmark in Genoa, Italy for more than 50 years. That is, until the summer of 2018, when disaster struck and a huge 260-metre section collapsed—killing 43 people and dumping 27 vehicles into the valley below.
Europe’s worst road bridge disaster in over a century, the catastrophe sounded a chilling alarm and sent forensic engineers on a quest for answers: What caused the sudden failure? Why was there no warning? And just how many other bridges around the world are at risk?
Weaving together a global narrative that spans history, technology, and an ongoing criminal investigation, Why Bridges Collapse travels from Berlin and London to the American Midwest to present the staggering truth about our aging infrastructure. In the past decade, more than 60 bridges have collapsed worldwide. And as investigators in Italy search for the source of Polcevera’s single-point failure, survivors of bridge collapses share the terrifying tale of the day the roadway opened up and they tumbled into the void.
