Italy Okays $15.5-B Bridge Project Linking Mainland to Sicily

Italy has cleared the way to build the world’s largest suspension bridge linking the Italian mainland with Sicily in a massive €13.5 billion ($15.5 billion) infrastructure project long delayed by debates over its scale, earthquake risks, environmental impact, and the specter of mafia interference, Colleen Barry reported for the Associated Press (AP).

The Strait of Messina Bridge would measure nearly 3.7 kilometers (2.2 miles), with a suspended span of 3.3 kilometers (more than 2 miles). (Photo: Marcus Bengtsson Wikimedia Commons)

The Strait of Messina Bridge will be “the biggest infrastructure project in the West,” Transport Minister Matteo Salvini told a news conference in Rome after an interministerial committee overseeing strategic public investments approved the plan.

Premier Giorgia Meloni said the bridge “will be an engineering symbol of global significance.”

Salvini cited studies showing the project will create 120,000 jobs a year and accelerate growth in economically lagging southern Italy, as billions more are invested in roads and other infrastructure projects accompanying the bridge.

Preliminary work could begin between late September and early October, once Italy’s Court of Audit signs off, with construction expected to start next year.

“From a technical standpoint, it’s an absolutely fascinating engineering project,” Salvini said.

The Strait of Messina Bridge would measure nearly 3.7 kilometers (2.2 miles), with a suspended span of 3.3 kilometers (more than 2 miles), surpassing Turkey’s Çanakkale Bridge — currently the longest — by 1,277 meters (4,189 feet).

With three car lanes in each direction flanked by a double-track railway, the bridge would have the capacity to carry 6,000 cars an hour and 200 trains a day, reducing the crossing time from up to 100 minutes by ferry to 10 minutes by car. Trains would save 2½ hours in transit time, Salvini added.