It has been the stuff of macabre legend for years – that those who cross the Sicilian mafia end up encased in the concrete pylons of viaducts and bridges.
The truth about the mafia and construction, however, is more prosaic – and far more lethal.
Rather than dumping rival gangsters into wet cement, which is largely regarded as an urban legend, organised crime groups imperil people’s lives by building bridges, tunnels, roads and apartment blocks with low quality materials and slapdash techniques.
Using cement containing too much sand, for instance, produces bridges and viaducts liable to crumble. Italian prosecutors have launched an investigation into Tuesday’s collapse of the Morandi Bridge in…