Laviglia Bridge

The **Laviglia-Miras Friendship Bridge**, (*Gorbogian: Lavigliamirasěěěě ak Bagb*) better known as the **Laviglia Bridge**, is a bridge connecting Laviglia, Gorbogia, and Miras, Helsburymia. The bridge is iconic for its design, and its historical importance, serving as a distinct symbol of Gorbogia-Helsburymia Détente during the Bretrelis Cold War.

The Laviglia Bridge began construction in 1933, and ended in 1937. The bridge stands at 74 kilometers (46 miles) long, making it the largest in Enadia. The bridge was constructed by state owned construction companies in Gorbogia and Helsburymia. Each state built 37 kilometers into the Bretrelis Sea, meeting at the center of the bridge, where two large flags are flown continually, and a large eternal flame burns from Bretrelis natural gas, a recourse Gorbogia and Helsburymia displayed hostilities towards each other over, during the Bretrelis Cold War.

## Incidents

The Laviglia Bridge froze over in the winter of 1940, preventing vehicular traffic from crossing. This was a direct result of ocean and rain water collecting atop the bridge, and freezing in the bitter winters of the Bretrelis Sea. The next summer, heaters were installed across the bridge to prevent freezing.

In the winter of 1941, the bridge was damaged by Ischianian terrorists, resulting in a partial collapse of the northern side of the bridge. The bridge was closed for the spring of 1941 while repairs could be made.

On the last day of the Bretrelis Cold War, hardline nationalists of Gorbogia stood across the bridge with their arms interlocked, attempting to block the Helsburymian delegation from crossing into Gorbogia to sign the final peace agreement.

In the fall of 1953, the bridge heating system failed, but was repaired before the winter of 1953.

### Laviglian Bridge Disaster

Throughout 1966 and 1967, several structural collapses were noted, and were later found out to be a direct result of faulty support structures on the Gorbogian-constructed section of the bridge. The bridge was planned to be closed for all of 1968 for reconstruction and stabilization, but these plans were never instituted, due to the large amount of traffic on the bridge. Gorbogian analysts predicted that closing the bridge would result in huge monetary losses, as at that time, large tolls were collected on vehicles crossing the bridge. Additionally, several West Enadian countries, including Gorbogia, relied on the trade that the bridge allowed. In Orken, for example, 85% of industrial materials were imported from Craftnes; the majority of which, arrived by trucks across the bridge.

The decision was made in the winter of 1967 to keep the bridge open, despite the structural issues. The bridge had small incidents throughout the winter, but no major issues were reported. On Tresdenuary 3rd of 1968, however, an unusually large amount of traffic resulted in a large portion of the bridge to collapse into the Brevelis Sea. The resulting panic caused several traffic accidents.

##### Rescue Operations

The incident was reported minutes after the collapse occurred. Several rescue boats were sent out by several countries, rescuing 329 from the sea, most of which had survived by clinging to sea rocks, or the supports of the bridge. Multiple incidents of rescue-worker deaths were reported in the chaos, and 21 ships were lost during the unusually rough day.

All total, 502 were transported to hospital from the sea, and from the traffic accidents on the bridge.

##### Casualties

In total, 491 deaths were reported, including 32 from traffic accidents. The majority of the deaths were due to drowning in the sea, though some autopsies reported a large amount of deaths due to head and bodily trauma during the collapse. Furthermore, 1,832 were injured during the collapse, traffic accidents, and rescue operations.

#### Aftermath

##### Reconstruction

The Helsburymian government closed all traffic on the bridge for the remainder of the year. Throughout 1968 and 1969, the bridge was reconstructed by several international companies. The bridge was reopened to foot traffic in 1970, but all vehicular traffic was closed until 1977.

##### Official inquiry

The next week, Helsburymian officials launched an investigation on the incident, and found out that the Gorbogians decided not to close the bridge, despite knowing of its possible collapse. The Helsburymian consulate in Morvitermo was closed, and many countries condemned Gorbogia for the incident. Several sanctions were presented on Gorbogia, including the closure of the bridge by Helsburymia. In 1977, the bridge was reopened after fierce pressure from West Enadian countries.

In 2056, It was revealed in a case-study from the University of Pauvilles that the bridge was intentionally sabotaged during its construction by lead engineers from Gorbogia. The engineers were identified as members of extreme nationalist parties in Gorbogia. This was disputed by the government of Gorbogia, until an official search of the original blueprints confirmed this accusation: the southern side (constructed by Helsburymia) was in good structural standing, while the northern side (constructed by Gorbogia) was designed in a faulty manner. Gorbogia apologized for the incident, and donated large sums of money to the descendants of the victims involved during the disaster..