Identification of deformation processes prior to the collapse of a viaduct

Issue

Following the collapse of the Polcevera road viaduct, the need to determine the causes of the collapse emerged, assessing any deformation processes prior to the failure and their qualitative and quantitative characterization.

Solution

Advanced Differential Interferometric SAR analysis (A-DInSAR) was performed by using data acquired from the COSMO-SkyMed satellites (Italian Space Agency) in order to estimate any deformation processes suffered by the structure and the surrounding area, focusing on the deformation behaviour of the viaduct in the previous 10 years.