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SCIENCE
OUTLOOK
The Genoa elevated highway, inaugurated in 1965, is currently part of a demolition and urban regeneration project of the port area. The intent would be to demolish part of it, increasing the mobility of the area with the construction of a sub-port tunnel. In this article the history of the maintenance interventions that characterized the “Sopraelevata” and made it a still useful and functional infrastructure for the entire city has been analysed.
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CORROSION PROTECTION | OCTOBER 2023
T
he design of the Genoa steel-structure overpass, which was built in 1965 and called “Sopraelevata”, among many excellent features, bore some genetic mistakes, mainly due to the erroneous
presumption that the whole supporting metal structure was waterproof, and to the malfunction of the expansion joints. After some maintenance works on the paint of the external structure, a major inspection carried out in the Eighties showed, apart from the expected degradation of the external organic coating, apparently dangerous generalised corrosion together with stagnant water inside the trapezoidal metal support. In order to completely protect the interior of the 16 km long supporting tunnel, a surface-tolerant one-coat paint and a new external