The former head of Italy's motorway operator has been handed a 12-year prison sentence for the collapse of Genoa's Morandi bridge in August 2018, a disaster that killed 43 people. Prosecutors had asked for a longer term for Giovanni Castellucci, ex-chief executive of Autostrade per l'Italia (Aspi), but apparently 12 years felt like enough for a bridge that gave way during a rainstorm at the height of holiday season, sending cars and lorries plummeting to the ground.

Castellucci, who is already serving a six-year sentence for a 2013 road disaster, was one of 57 defendants on trial in Genoa. Another top official, Michele Donferri Mitelli, got 11 years. Emmanuel Diaz, whose brother Henry died, told Italian TV he was "very satisfied" with the verdict, while Egle Possetti, who lost her sister and her family, found the 12-year term "acceptable."

Castellucci wasn't in court to hear the verdicts read by Judge Paolo Lepri. The former number two at Aspi, Paolo Berti, got five and a half years - seven less than prosecutors wanted. In total, prosecutors had sought 400 years for the 57 defendants for failing to maintain the viaduct, built by Riccardo Morandi in 1967. All defendants denied wrongdoing.

Prosecutors argued maintenance of the aging structure was repeatedly delayed and warning signs ignored, while defense lawyers blamed a design flaw and a cable encased in concrete. Among the defendants were engineers from maintenance firm Spea and former officials from the transport ministry and Aspi's parent company Atlantia. Spea's former CEO Antonino Galatà got five and a half years, and former transport ministry official Mauro Coletta received five years.

On the eve of the trial, Aspi's current head Arrigo Giana issued the company's first public apology, saying "the actions and decisions of some people left indelible scars." Meanwhile, families of the 43 victims waited for a verdict that finally arrived - likely too late to undo the damage, but just in time to remind everyone that infrastructure doesn't maintain itself.