It has already been a year since Genoa’s new San Giorgio bridge was inaugurated by Sergio Mattarella, the Italian President, in a moving ceremony.

A critical traffic artery for northern Italy, it connects two sides of the city of Genoa and serves its busy mercantile port, while being part of the E80 European motorway linking Italy to France, lying on a main route used by holidaymakers heading to the Ligurian Riviera from cities like Turin and Milan. The replacement bridge was opened less than two years after the Morandi bridge disaster, something of an achievement, especially considering that some of the most challenging work was carried during the first European lockdown.

Over a kilometre long and standing 45 meters above the valley, it is designed so that the bottom of the bridge looks like a ship’s hull, a reference by Renzo Piano, the star architect and Genoa native who designed the new bridge, adding to an architectural portfolio that includes London’s Shard, the Whitney Museum in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Pari. It is clearly a homage to Genoa’s industrial roots in shipbuilding. Built by Italian construction company Salini Impregilo and state-owned shipbuilder Fincantieri, the project cost €200 million, not considering the cost of demolition of the Morandi bridge, which cost another €90 million. Up to 1,000 people were working on the project at the same time.

Thanks to the new infrastructures built to connect the E80 and the Genoa city centre during the construction period, there are now multiple fast roads that connect Genoa International Airport – with its boutique jet hub – to Waterfront Marina.

In just 10 minutes clients can take the motorway from Aeroporto to the Genova Ovest motorway exit or alternatively in around 12 minutes, drive along the Guida Rossa Superstrada to travel the same route, then using the Aldo Moro flyover to seamlessly arrive at Waterfront Marina in the Eastern side of Genoa Port, in the heart of the city centre.

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