ARCUS Atlas record
Viadotto Scorciavacche
Total collapse of the Viadotto Scorciavacche on the SS189 Palermo-Agrigento expressway near Mezzojuso (Palermo, Sicily) on 30 December 2014, exactly seven days after its inauguration. The viaduct had been opened without the required structural testing and certification (collaudo), with ANAS having moved the inauguration forward by three months. The structure, built on unstable terrain, failed within a week of opening to traffic. The collapse was a major national scandal: Prime Minister Matteo Renzi expressed public outrage; the Procura di Termini Imerese opened an investigation for attentato alla sicurezza dei trasporti and falso, indicting the ex-ANAS president Pietro Ciucci and several ANAS directors. After years of procedural battles, most charges were declared prescribed in 2023; in January 2025 the remaining defendants were acquitted. No fatalities or injuries were reported as the viaduct failed without vehicles in transit.
- ARCUS ID
- IT14.12.01
- Date
- 2014-12-30
- Municipality
- Mezzojuso
- Province
- Palermo
- Region
- Sicilia
- Coordinates
- 37.892697, 13.461 · exact location
- Crossing
- Municipality of Mezzojuso
- Use
- National
- Severity
- TC
- Material
- Steel-concrete composite
- Construction year
- 2014
- Cause category
- Human-induced
- Specific cause
- Design and Construction
- Failure trigger
- No identifiable external trigger
- Failure process
- Other documented mode
- Component involved
- Approach embankment
- Cause evidence
- Documented
- Source confidence
- High
- Victims
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
Documentary sources (3)
- Crollo viadotto Palermo-Agrigento: indagati ex vertici ANAS (News · ANSA · 2016-12-13)
- Viadotto crollato in Sicilia: prescrizione per 9 imputati (News · ANSA · 2023-11-29)
- Viadotto crollato in Sicilia: assolti Ciucci e due dirigenti ANAS (News · ANSA · 2025-01-30)