As early as 1979, Morandi wrote a report that recommended constant maintenance of the bridge to fill in exposed pieces of reinforcement and remove rust. Morandi blamed the bridge’s fragile state on a “well-known loss of superficial chemical resistance of the concrete” caused by sea air and airborne pollution from a nearby steel plant.
: https://www.engineering.com/BIM/ArticleID/17517/Italys-Morandi-Bridge-CollapseWhat-Do-We-Know.aspx

