MILAN (REUTERS) - A new viaduct in the Italian port city of Genoa will open next month, built to replace a motorway bridge that collapsed almost two years ago, killing 43 people.

"Genoa's Saint George bridge will be inaugurated on Aug 3 at 1830 local time," Genoa Mayor Marco Bucci said on a post on his Facebook account. That equates to midnight on Aug 4, Singapore time.

Bucci is also the state-appointed commissioner for the replacement of the bridge.

Connecting Italy with France, a section of the old bridge broke apart on Aug 14, 2018, sending dozens of cars plunging to the ground.

The disaster prompting national outrage and triggered a bitter dispute between the government and infrastructure group Atlantia, whose motorway unit managed the viaduct.

Hundreds of workers in a consortium including inspection and engineering services group RINA, builder Webuild and shipbuilder Fincantieri, have been working day and night since January 2019 to erect the new structure in a project led by Genoa-born architect Renzo Piano.