MILAN -- Relatives of the 43 individuals who died in the collapse of Genoa's Morandi highway bridge almost eight years earlier are set to fill a courtroom on Thursday awaiting the outcome of proceedings against 57 people accused in an incident that highlighted major shortcomings in the upkeep of Italy's roadways.

Those on trial encompass past leaders from the highway firm Autostrade per L'Italia along with specialists from its engineering arm SPEA and prior staff from the national Infrastructure Ministry.

The majority confront accusations such as careless handling of a catastrophe along with numerous manslaughter counts tied to claimed lapses in bridge upkeep on a key path connecting northern Italy to the French coast.

During a rainstorm on Aug. 14 2018 a 200-meter section of the structure gave way sending many cars plummeting downward.

Photos of the ruined bridge circulated globally and stunned citizens during one of the nation's peak travel periods when crowds departed for the Aug. 15 Ferragosto break at the height of summer holidays.

Authorities contended that prolonged neglect in upkeep caused the failure and sought prison terms adding up to nearly 400 years across all accused. The defendants reject any fault and attribute the issue to an original building flaw.

The decisions on guilt and penalties will conclude a case that included over 280 sessions across four years.

"We hope to see our suffering validated and confirmation that the event stemmed not from accident but from major lapses in care" noted Raffaele Caruso a lawyer for the victims.

Viewed as a feat of design upon its 1967 opening the Morandi included three A-shaped concrete supports and cables wrapped in concrete.

Caruso who acts for families of three victims noted the case revealed that alerts about flaws in the failed support dated back decades with repairs begun on the other two supports in 1993 but never applied to the third.

"After 1993 the issue was recognized. We had three matching supports. Two already displayed the flaw yet no one properly checked the third" Caruso added.

Autostrade's present leader Arrigo Giana released a public apology Thursday via an open letter in leading Italian papers.

"The choices of certain individuals created lasting wounds" stated Giana who took the CEO role last year. "Providing the apology that was missing at the time represents a moral duty for us that extends past legal findings and the pursuit of facts."

Autostrade and its unit settled corporate responsibility claims during the case by paying about 30 million euros in fines. This pact kept the firms out of a corporate trial and avoided stricter penalties such as bans from government work.

The accords followed the adoption of fresh compliance steps to avert repeat offenses and after payouts to those affected.

A replacement bridge created by Genoa native architect Renzo Piano debuted in 2020 and includes a tribute to those lost in the Morandi failure.