For over 50 years, the Morandi Bridge carried commuters, families, tourists and freight along the A10 motorway across the Polcevera River in Genoa. On 14 August 2018, 43 people tragically lost their lives when a section of the bridge collapsed.
The tragic loss of life here and at other incidents in recent years ths a spotlight on the evolving risks and complex liability chains associated with economic infrastructure. These risks stretch beyond business interruption and property damage to legal liabilities, reputational damage and possible corporate manslaughter.
Whether infrastructure forms part of your investment portfolio - or is your responsibility to construct, operate and maintain - it is essential that you fully understand your risks.
In this paper we look at the key issues in risk management and insurance which can assist you in identifying, managing and mitigating your risks.
No time to grow old gracefully
Make a short trip around any major city and the bridges, roads, railways and tunnels undergoing maintenance and repairs bear witness to infrastructure assets being pushed to their limits.
In developed economies, most of the economic infrastructure assets have been part of the fabric of everyday life for 40 years or more. The average age of a bridge in the U.S. is 43 years, and one in every nine bridges is structurally deficient1. Amazingly, there are believed to be more than 50,000 bridges in need of repair in the USA2. In the UK a recent study3 found that over 2,000 bridges were not suitable to carry the heaviest vehicles now permitted on the public highway.
Genoa’s disaster is part of a wider trend surrounding ageing global infrastructure.
Recent years have seen an increasing number of incidents related to ageing economic infrastructure. Tragedies such as those at Genoa, the I-35 Mississippi River bridge collapse and the I-5 Skagit River bridge failure are representative of issues with multiple and significant implications for both the public and private sector.
Under pressure?
Built for a different world
It’s not just wear and tear that affects the suitability of older infrastructure assets for modern demands. Changing needs place stresses on infrastructure that may not have been considered when they were first designed and built.
Over the last 50 years the permitted weight of goods vehicles on UK roads has increased to 44 tons. Asset deterioration increases with heavier vehicles, increased traffic volumes and higher speeds; trends which we observe globally. In particular, the weight and quantity of commercial vehicles in use have increased significantly. Bridges designed for traffic 40 years ago are now coping with very different loads: one reason why unforeseen use is one of the main causes of bridge failure.
Similarly, assets that were built to comply with less stringent safety standards than we expect today continue to play a fundamental role in our daily lives. Bringing those assets up to date carries inherent risks – both during maintenance and upgrade works and also during the remaining life of the asset.
Footnotes
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| Title | File Type | File Size |
|---|---|---|
| Ageing Infrastructure Jan 2020 | 2.6 MB |
