Italy: bridging security gaps

Following the Morandi Bridge disaster, now greater checks have been done with drones, Artificial Intelligence and the IoT. Anas' announcement, soon to be, to monitor and to offer a predictive maintenance of 1,000 bridges and viaducts

The Sydney Harbour Bridge, the iconic Australian bridge that stands as the world's largest steel arch bridge, celebratesits 90th birthday this year: Australians, to check its safety, included 2,400 sensors that constantly measure how large vibrations are. San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, to mention another world-famous bridge, also is monitored in the same way. If we had also done it in Italy, the Morandi Bridge disaster in Genova could also have been avoided. Or another case (with zero victims in this case), that of the Bridge over the Magra River, located on the Tuscany-Liguria border, too.

Now, lost time is being recuperated by introducing a predictive maintenance of all infrastructural works. In this period, with the publication of the last two public announcements in the Italian "Gazzetta Ufficiale", the Shm (Structural health monitoring) programme is being completed, an investment for infrastructure works and monitoring of 1,000 bridges and viaducts of the Anas network, financed by the Italian fund linked to the PNRR. It is basically the infrastructurization of bridges through the installation of sensors and IoT (Internet of Things) technology: i.e. using the Internet to allow objects to send information, so that an infrastructure's state of health or that of machinery, can be constantly monitored to detect any anomalies, even before real issues occur.

Projects that have already begun: from Metropolitana Milanese to Autostrade per l’Italia

Metropolitana Milanese, which manages Milan's water grid, through an infrastructure based on artificial intelligence has already built an application that uses 100,000 sensors in the water grid to detect lifts and any losses. This way, the operators can have access to information and can promptly intervene to quickly repair what needs to be and avoid any loss of water.

Autostrade per l’Italia (Aspi) too, with Ibm and Fincantieri, is creating a project that will guarantee an innovative surveillance and monitoring service to 4,500 works of its motorway network. These infrastructures will have sensors that can detect any divergence from optimal values, signalling to a central station any strange situations, so that preventive maintenance activities can be carried out. The new monitoring platform uses artificial intelligence, drones with laser-scanners and high-resolution video cameras that carry out a sort of superficial scan. And also, the IoT (Internet of Things) and 3D digital modelling to analize a work through its digital twin, so to speak.

I tecnici possono svolgere gli accertamenti accedendo in tempo reale a tutte le informazioni: calcoli e disegni del progetto originario e degli interventi successivi; controlli e manutenzioni programmate; indagini e prove sui materiali; esiti e dettagli delle precedenti ispezioni.

A general contractor that coordinates the work done by small companies

The path is clear, and Italy necessarily must invest in resources and know-how to modernize infrastructural control procedures. Still, for small and medium sized companies this can be very hard. Therefore Webuild, Italy's largest construction group, raised its hand to become the leader of an Italian plan for maintenance works. A great, large reality and Group, which can work with the entire supply chain as general contractor of smaller realities, organizing work, supervising activities, liaising with the Client. And, mostly, to make Italians safer.