The victims were identified as Emidio 'Mimmo' Diomedi, 60, and his wife Antonella Viviani, 54, who had been married for 36 years.
The couple lived in Spinetoli near Ascoli Piceno, where they ran a packaging business in Colli del Tronto.
They left behind two children, Daniela and Daniele, the latter a former team manager of the Sambenedettese Calcio football club.
"They were two exceptional people," their daughter said.
Highway maintenance and management company Autostrade per l'Italia has affirmed that the bridge was a temporary structure used to support an overpass that had been closed off to traffic.
The collapse took place amid work to widen the highway between the South Ancona and Loreto exits to three lanes.
According to local sources, no other travellers were affected by the collapse, and the three injured people are construction workers.
Transport Minister Graziano Delrio sent inspectors to the scene, while several opposition politicians were quick to deem the collapse “unacceptable” and called for Delrio to resign.
As prosecutors opened a probe into suspected culpable manslaughter, Autostrade per l’Italia has stated that what had happened was a "tragic, one-off accident" and that Italy's motorway bridges were safe.
Similar tragedies have occurred in Italy in recent years, including one near Lecco and another near Agrigento in Sicily.
With ANSA
