Authorities in Genoa on Tuesday chose a design by Italy's most famous living architect Renzo Piano for a bridge to replace the Morandi overpass which collapsed in August, killing 43 people and injuring dozens.

Piano, 81, who is originally from Genoa, had submitted a proposal in September for the new bridge.

"This will last for a 1,000 years and will be built of steel," he said then.

It will "have elements of a boat because that is something from Genoa," he explained, adding that it would be a streamlined and luminous white structure.

"We have asked the architect Renzo Piano to oversee the project to ensure that the original idea is respected," said Marco Bucci, the mayor of the northern port city.

The contract was awarded to a consortium of three Italian construction companies, Salini Impregilo, Fincantieri and Italferr.

Their proposal is based on an idea donated free of charge by Piano, whose notable works include the Pompidou Centre in Paris, along with British architect Richard Rogers, and the new Palais de Justice in the French capital. He also designed Malta's parliament building.

The new bridge is estimated to cost 202 million euros.