DAILY READING PRACTICE 2



Italy acts to revoke contract in bridge collapse in Genoa


ARTICLE FROM WASHINGTON POST
LINK 

By Ilaria Polleschi

-Vocabulary
revoking- to say officially that an agreement, permission, a law, etc. is no longer in effect
penetrate-to move into or through something: ( Amazingly, the bullet did not penetrate his brain)
estimate- an approximate calculation or judgement of the value
           rubble  -waste or rough fragments of stone, brick, concrete, etc., especially as the debris from the demolition of buildings.
        plummeted -fall or drop straight down at high speed.


           
 

GENOA, Italy — The Italian government on Friday launched a formal procedure aimed at revoking a contract held by Autostrade per l’Italia to operate toll highways after a bridge it managed collapsed, killing at least 38 people.
“Today the government . . . has formally sent to Autostrade per l’Italia the letter of complaint which launches the process for revoking the concession,” Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said in a statement.
It said Tuesday’s bridge collapse in Genoa was the fault of the company which “had the obligation to look after the ordinary and extraordinary maintenance of the motorway.”
As politicians responded to public outrage over the tragedy, rescue workers used jackhammers and cranes to lift giant slabs of concrete from the riverbed beneath the fallen span, hoping to find survivors buried in the rubble. Vehicles on the highway that links Genoa to the French border west of the Mediterranean port city plummeted 165 feet when a 660-foot stretch of the viaduct collapsed.
More than 300 firefighters have been working nonstop since Tuesday, but experts say chances of finding survivors are now slim. The civil protection agency said on Friday that five people feared to be near the site of the disaster were still unaccounted for.
“We are trying to find points where we can penetrate these incredibly heavy slabs. Then the earthmoving equipment moves in to create a passageway where the [search] dogs can enter,” firefighter Stefano Zanut said at the scene. Rescuers are hoping the large chunks of debris may have created a “triangle of survival” when they fell, where someone could still be alive, he said.
Autostrade now has 15 days to present its counterarguments to the government revoking its contract. Some sector experts estimate that if the Italian government revokes the concession, it will have to pay Autostrade up to 20 billion euros ($22.85 billion) in compensation for investments the firm has made.
A Genoa court will try to establish the exact cause of the bridge failure, but experts said problems with the concrete-encased cable stays were a possible culprit. An engineering study commissioned by Autostrade last year warned about the condition of the stays, said Carmelo Gentile, a professor from the Polytechnic University of Milan, who was on the team that carried it out.
Atlantia did not respond to a written request for comment and attempts to speak with a company official were not successful.
A state funeral for many of the victims will be held Saturday at Genoa’s convention center. Twelve coffins have already been placed in a large hall, and family members visited them Friday, sometimes kissing the caskets. One white coffin held the body of 7-year-old Samuele Robbiano, who died alongside his parents.
“It is something that has touched everyone because we all used the bridge and it could have happened to anyone,” Bishop Nicolò Anselmi said after blessing the coffins.

— Reuters

FILL IN THE BLANKS

1. The Italian government cancels authorisation of ________ for a company named  Autostrade per l’Italia.
2. The Official reverse statement anonunced by ________________
3. To recover survivors buried in the debris, rescue workers used ________ and ________ to lift giant slabs of concrete from the riverbed beneath the fallen span.

TRUE FALSE

1. Prime Minister said "bridge collapse in Genoa was the fault of the company .
2. Autostrade per i'Italia agreed to give compensation of $22.85 billion euros  to  victims  of bridge collapse.
3. A study last year warned  company about the condition of the Bridge stays.

______________________________________________________
RIP



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