An Italian court is expected to deliver its verdict on Thursday in the long-running trial over the 2018 collapse of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa, a disaster that claimed 43 lives and exposed serious concerns about the country's ageing infrastructure.
The bridge, which formed part of a major motorway linking Italy and France, collapsed during heavy rain on 14 August 2018, sending dozens of vehicles plunging to the ground below.
The ruling will bring to a close a four-year trial centred on allegations that inadequate maintenance contributed to one of Italy's deadliest infrastructure failures.
Prosecutors have sought prison sentences totalling more than 400 years for 57 defendants, who face charges including manslaughter, endangering transport safety and falsifying official documents.
Many of those on trial are former executives and engineers from motorway operator Autostrade per l'Italia (ASPI) and engineering company Spea, which was responsible for inspecting and maintaining the bridge. Former government infrastructure officials are also among the accused.
One of the highest-profile defendants is former Autostrade chief executive Giovanni Castellucci, who is accused of delaying essential reinforcement work on one of the bridge's support pillars. Prosecutors are seeking an 18-year prison sentence against him.
However, Castellucci's legal team has denied the allegations, arguing that he had pushed for repair work to be carried out and has been unfairly blamed for the tragedy.
During the trial, prosecutors alleged that support pillar number nine, which ultimately failed, had not undergone meaningful reinforcement work during the bridge's 51-year lifespan, despite repairs having been completed on other sections of the structure.
Lead prosecutor Walter Cotugno described the bridge as "a ticking time bomb," arguing that warning signs had been ignored for years before the collapse.
The defence has maintained that the disaster was caused by an inherent construction flaw, specifically hidden corrosion in the bridge's cables, rather than a failure to carry out maintenance.
Families of the victims have said they hope the verdict will finally provide answers after years of legal proceedings.
Egle Possetti, who heads a committee representing victims' relatives and lost four family members in the collapse, said while convictions would be welcomed, uncovering the truth remained the most important outcome.
Autostrade per l'Italia and Spea have already reached an out-of-court settlement with prosecutors, agreeing to pay €29 million (about $30 million) to the Italian state. The motorway operator has also paid more than €60 million in compensation to victims' families, although two families declined the settlement.
At the time of the disaster, Autostrade was owned by the Atlantia Group, controlled by Italy's Benetton family. Following public outrage over the collapse, the family later relinquished its controlling stake, paving the way for greater state involvement in the company.