ARCUS Atlas record
Viadotto Italia
Total collapse of approach span no. 13 (Reggio Calabria side) of the Viadotto Italia on the A3/A2 del Mediterraneo motorway between Laino Borgo and Mormanno (Cosenza, Calabria) on 2 March 2015 at approximately 17:00, during demolition works as part of the Macrolotto 3.2 motorway widening programme. The steel span, found to lack fixings on both supports, slid off pier 12 and fell approximately 80 metres into the Lao gorge below. One worker — Adrian Ionel Miholca, 25, Romanian national of Nitrex Srl — was carried down with the span and died on impact. The Procura di Castrovillari sequestered the entire viaduct; the A3 between Laino Borgo and Mormanno remained closed for several months, effectively isolating Calabria from the rest of Italy along the main north-south motorway axis. ANAS established an internal inquiry commission. The Viadotto Italia, designed with consultancy of Riccardo Morandi and inaugurated in 1969, was at the time the highest bridge in Italy (240m above the valley floor) and had been Europe's highest until 2004.
- ARCUS ID
- IT15.03.01
- Date
- 2015-03-03
- Municipality
- Laino Borgo
- Province
- Cosenza
- Region
- Calabria
- Coordinates
- 39.943442, 15.960189 · exact location
- Crossing
- Municipality of Laino Borgo
- Use
- Motorway
- Severity
- TC
- Structural type
- Beam bridge
- Material
- Steel
- Construction year
- 1969
- Cause category
- Human-induced
- Specific cause
- Impact
- Failure trigger
- Demolition operation
- Failure process
- Other documented mode
- Component involved
- Deck / superstructure
- Cause evidence
- Documented
- Source confidence
- High
- Victims
- 1
- Injuries
- 0
Documentary sources (3)
- Cosenza, crolla viadotto: operaio di 25 anni muore precipitando da ottanta metri (Official/Technical · Parlamento Italiano · 2015-04-01)
- Crollo viadotto sull'A3: strada chiusa tra Laino Borgo e Mormanno (News · AGI · 2015-03-02)
- Sindaco di Laino: "Stato insostenibile dopo crollo A3, traffico deviato in paese" (News · Il Fatto Quotidiano · 2015-03-20)