Between Sicily and Calabria
Rome gives the largest hanging bridge in the world
After years of planning, the project, at a cost of 13.5 billion euros, should be completed by 2032. 3300 meters long, the bridge will span the Strait of Messina.
The bridge, 3300 meters long, will connect Sicily to the continent. (Illustration image)
IMAGO/Wirestock
A ministerial committee gave its final green light on Wednesday to a 13.5 billion euros project aimed at building the longest suspension bridge in the world, connecting the island of Sicily to the continent, a spokesperson announced.
“It will be the longest suspension bridge in the world. An infrastructure of this kind represents a development accelerator, “the Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure said Matteo Salvini, quoted by his spokesperson in the meeting.
This green light for the construction of the bridge which will span the Strait of Messina, funded by the State, marks a “historic page” after decades of planning.
A technical feat
With two railways in the center and three traffic lanes on each side, the bridge is designed with two pairs of tense cables between two laps 400 meters high, with a suspended range of 3,300 meters, a world record.
Scheduled to be completed by 2032, the government affirms that it is a technical feat, capable of withstanding violent winds and earthquakes in a region located at the junction of two tectonic plates.
The government hopes that it will bring economic growth and jobs to two poor Italian regions, Sicily and Calabria, Mr. Salvini promising that the project will create tens of thousands of jobs.
First plans 50 years ago
However, this plan has aroused local protests, due to its environmental impact and its price, this money that can be, according to detractors, better used elsewhere.
The president of the Italian Democratic Party, Elly Schlein, in Messina (Sicily) to meet the local associations opposed to the construction of the bridge over the Strait of Messina during the event “No to the Pont de Salvini project”, in March 2024.
Imago/Livemedia group
Some of them also think that it will never see the light of day, recalling the long history of public works announced, funded and never completed in Italy.
The bridge itself has experienced several false starts, the first plans having been developed over 50 years ago.
Eurolink, a consortium led by the Italian group Webuild, won the call for tenders in 2006, but it was canceled after the debt crisis in the euro zone. The consortium remains, however, the contractor of the relaunched project.
This time, Rome has an additional motivation to move forward: she classified the cost of the bridge as a defense expenditure.
Italy, riddled with debts, has accepted, with other NATO allies, to massively increase its defense expenses to bring them to 5% of GDP, at the request of the President Donald Trump.
On this amount, 1.5% can be devoted to “defense” areas, such as cybersecurity and infrastructure, and Rome hopes that the Messina bridge will be eligible, especially since Sicily is home to a NATO base.
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