Strait of Messina Bridge
Proposed Strait of Messina Bridge Ponte sullo stretto di Messina | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 38°14′51″N 15°38′21″E / 38.24750°N 15.63917°E |
Carries | Six lanes and two emergency lanes. Two rails and two railway sidewalks. |
Crosses | Strait of Messina |
Locale | Messina and Villa San Giovanni |
Characteristics | |
Design | Suspension bridge |
Total length | 3,666 metres (12,028 ft) |
Height | 382.6 metres (1,255 ft) (pylons) |
Longest span | 3,300 metres (10,800 ft) |
Clearance below | 76 metres (249 ft) |
History | |
Designer | Stretto di Messina |
Construction start | Summer 2024 |
Construction end | Projected 2032 |
Location | |
The Strait of Messina Bridge (Italian: Ponte sullo stretto di Messina) is a planned 3.6-kilometre suspension bridge across the Strait of Messina, connecting Torre Faro in Sicily with Villa San Giovanni in the Italian Peninsula.[1]
The bridge has been controversial due to the impact of earthquakes, strong currents in the strait, concerns of disruption of bird migration routes, and the infiltration of
While a bridge across the Strait of Messina had been proposed since ancient times, the first detailed plan was made in the 1990s for a suspension bridge. The project was cancelled in 2006 under Prime Minister Romano Prodi.[3] On 6 March 2009, as part of a massive new public works programme, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government announced that construction of the Messina Bridge would indeed go ahead, pledging €1.3 billion as a contribution to the bridge's total cost, estimated at €6.1 billion.[4] The project was cancelled again on 26 February 2013, by Prime Minister Mario Monti's government due to budget constraints.[5] A decade later, the project was revived again with a decree by Giorgia Meloni's government on 16 March 2023,[6] which received presidential approval on 31 March 2023.[7][8]
If fully approved and built, the bridge will be the
Geography
The Strait of Messina is a funnel-shaped arm of sea that connects the Ionian Sea in the south to the Tyrrhenian Sea to the north. The width of the strait varies from a maximum of approximately 16 km (9.9 miles) (between Capo d'Alì in Sicily and Punta Pellaro in Calabria) to a minimum of approximately 3 km (1.9 miles) between Capo Peloro in Sicily and Torre Cavallo in Calabria.[9] A similar distance separates Pezzo and Ganzirri; at that point, the strait is only 72 m (236 ft) deep, while in other places it can reach 200 m (660 ft) deep. It is also characterised by strong currents and the region has strong seismicity.
History
The idea of a bridge crossing the strait is an old one. The Romans considered building a bridge joining Calabria and Sicily made of boats and barrels. Pliny the Elder, philosopher and Roman military leader born in 23 AD wrote of a plan to bridge the Strait with a series of connecting boats. The idea was abandoned as it was clear that more traffic ploughed the Strait in a north-south than east-west direction, so any structure on water could not be permanent.[10]
Charlemagne considered joining the two sides with a series of bridges. This idea was revived by the Norman adventurer Robert Guiscard in the 11th century and by Roger II of Sicily in the 12th century.[citation needed] In 1876, Giuseppe Zanardelli was convinced that the strait could be linked by either a bridge or a tunnel. In 1866, public works minister Stefano Jacini gave Alfredo Cottrau, an internationally recognised engineer, the task of drawing up plans for a bridge between Calabria and Sicily. Later, in 1870, Navone proposed building a tunnel based on Napoleon's idea of a tunnel under the English Channel. This tunnel was to start at Contesse and was to pass below Messina and Ganzirri at a depth of 150 m (490 ft), crossing the Strait to Punta Pezzo and resurfacing at Torre Cavallo.
A geologic study of the area of the Strait of Messina was published in 1909 (historical Arch. Sicilian year XXXIV f.1,2) and in 1921, a study of an
Early planning stages
- In the 1960s, a wide variety of proposals were advanced, including everything from submerged tubes to floating struts, pontoons and a revolving central section of the bridge. None turned out to be realistic.
- In 1969, an international design competition was arranged.
- In the 1970s, feasibility studies were undertaken by the State Railwaysleading to the creation of a private company with responsibility for planning the crossing of the Strait.
- In the 1980s, the Messina Strait Company (Stretto di Messina S.p.A.) was set up with support from the State Railways, the regions and IRI. It concluded that it would be feasible to build a suspension bridge.
- Detailed plans followed in the 1990s with final approval from the High Council of Public Works (Consiglio Superiore dei Lavori Pubblici).
Development of detailed plans
The 2006 plan called for a single-span suspension bridge with a central
Plans called for four
The design included 20.3 km (12.6 miles) of road links and 19.8 km (12.3 miles) of railway links to the bridge. On the mainland, the bridge was to connect to the new stretch of the
The bridge was planned to connect
Abandonment and revival
On 12 October 2006, the
On 15 April 2008,
On 6 March 2009, as part of a massive new public works programme, Silvio Berlusconi's government announced that plans to construct the Messina bridge had been revived, pledging €1.3 billion for the bridge as a contribution to its estimated cost of €6.1 billion. Some 3,300 m (10,800 ft) long and 60 m (200 ft) wide, the bridge would be supported by two 382 m (1,253 ft) pillars, each higher than the Empire State Building in New York. There would be two motorway lanes and one emergency lane in each direction, catering for 6,000 vehicles per hour, a double track railway for up to 200 trains a day, and two independent lanes for service traffic and pedestrians. Berlusconi claimed that work will be completed by 2016. Until 2006, when the project was halted, the work had been assigned to a consortium of Impregilo (now called Webuild), Condotte d'Acqua, Cooperativa Muratori & Cementisti (CMC), and Consorzio Stabile A.C.I., alongside Spain's Sacyr, and Japan's IHI Corporation.[11]
On 23 December 2009, preparatory work started with the diversion of the Tyrrhenian railway at Cannitello on the Italian mainland side of the strait.[16]
In February 2013, the project was shut down by Mario Monti, the new Italian Premier, by the government for lack of funds.[5]
In September 2016, the project was reconsidered by the government of Matteo Renzi.[17]
On 6 October 2019, the
On 3 June 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Premier Giuseppe Conte returned to talk about Messina Bridge, declaring that the Government of Italy would return to evaluate the resumption of work without prejudice.[19][20]
On 22 April 2021, the CEO of
On 16 March 2023, the Government of Italy, chaired by Giorgia Meloni and with Matteo Salvini at the Ministry of Infrastructure, approved a decree law to proceed with the construction of the Messina Bridge by remodeling the current project.[6]
On 19 March 2023, WeBuild's Chief Executive Officer (C.E.O.), Pietro Salini, said works on the bridge should begin by Summer 2024 with the opening of the project scheduled for 2032.[23]
On 31 March 2023, the
Contracting parties
A construction
On 27 March 2006, Impregilo and Stretto di Messina announced that they had signed a contract assigning final project planning to a General Contractor. Impregilo S.p.A., the lead partner had a 45% share. Other participants were Spain’s Sacyr (18.70%), the Italian companies Società Italiana per Condotte D’Acqua S.p.A. (15%) and Cooperativa Muratori & Cementisti-C.M.C. of Ravenna (13%), Japan’s IHI Corporation (6.30%), and Consorzio Stabile A.C.I. S.c.p.a (2%). The General Contractor would also be assisted by the Danish and Canadian companies COWI A/S, Sund & Baelt A/S and Buckland & Taylor Ltd., who would handle project engineering. Completion was projected to take six years, at a projected cost of €3.9 billion. The first task of the General Contractor was to draw up the final project.[25]
Function | Companies | Role |
---|---|---|
General contractor Eurolink (now Webuild)[26] |
Webuild (Impregilo till 2012) | Group leader (45%) |
IHI Infrastructure Systems Co., Ltd. | Mandator | |
COWI A/S | Mandator | |
Sacyr | Mandator | |
Società Italiana per Condotte d'Acqua | Mandator | |
Cooperativa Muratori & Cementisti | Mandator | |
Argo Costruzioni Infrastrutture | Mandator | |
Dissing+Weitling | Mandator | |
Sund & Bælt A/S | Mandator | |
Buckland & Taylor | Mandator | |
Project management | Parsons Corporation | |
Environmental monitoring | Fenice | Group leader |
Agriconsulting | Mandator | |
Eurisko NOP World | Mandator | |
Nautilus Società Cooperativa | Mandator | |
Theolab | Mandator | |
Insurance broker | Marsh |
Criticisms
The bridge has been controversial due to the impact of earthquakes, strong currents in the strait, concerns of disruption of bird migration routes, and the infiltration of
Supporters see the bridge as a huge job-creation scheme and a boost for tourism. However, opponents question the priority of the bridge, claiming that if the government concentrated instead on making Sicily's roads more efficient, drivers would be able to reach the coast more quickly at a fraction of the bridge's cost. Others believe that the bridge is quite unnecessary, since the local economy is already providing for the conversion of the local former NATO Comiso Airport into a commercial terminal to export vegetables to Northern Europe. Alternatively, a much cheaper revamping of the current structures is claimed to be sufficient (for instance, the ferry lines on the Calabria side are now accessible by trucks only by driving through very narrow streets, which are a tight bottleneck for transport). Another argument against the bridge is the poor state of the transport infrastructure in Sicily, particularly the railroad and the A20 autostrada linking Messina to Palermo, and the poor state of the A2 autostrada on the mainland linking Reggio Calabria to Naples.
The greatest structural design problem of the bridge is the aerodynamic stability of its deck under wind and seismic activity.[27]
See also
- List of longest suspension bridge spans
- Scandinavian–Mediterranean Corridor
- Trans-European Transport Network
- Strait of Sicily Tunnel
- Intercontinental and transoceanic fixed links
- Akashi Kaikyo Bridge
References
- ^ Sylvers, Eric (26 July 2023). "Italy Says it Will Build the Longest Suspension Bridge in the World. Don't Hold Your Breath". The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ a b Nadeau, Barbie Latza (30 April 2023). "Italy wants to build the world's longest suspension bridge. The Mafia and geography might make that difficult". CNN.
- ^ a b "Italy drops Sicily bridge plans". BBC News. 12 October 2006.
- ^ "Italy revives Sicily bridge plan". BBC News. 6 March 2009.
- ^ a b Masoni, Danilo (26 February 2013). "Sicily bridge project sinks in Italy budget mire". Reuters.
- ^ a b "Cabinet approves Messina Bridge decree - 'Historic day for Italy' says Infrastructure Minister Salvini". Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata. 17 March 2023.
- ^ a b "Il Ponte sullo Stretto è legge: Mattarella firma, il decreto è in Gazzetta Ufficiale". strettoweb.com (in Italian). 31 March 2023.
- ^ "Déjà Vu? Italy Plans To Build World's Longest Suspension Bridge To Sicily". IFLScience. 16 February 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
- ^ "Sicily (island, Italy) -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia". Encyclopædia Britannica. 17 February 2009. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
- ^ "When Planning a Bridge is No Small Decision". 3 June 2021.
- ^ a b Sicily to get longest bridge from TimesOnline. Retrieved 8 March 2009.
- ^ Italy revives Messina Straits bridge from Construction Europe. Retrieved 9 March 2009.
- ^ a b "Ponte sullo Stretto: un maxi-documento contro le "bugie pubblicate dalla stampa locale"" (in Italian). strettoweb.com. 17 December 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
- ^ Hooper, John (12 October 2006). "Italian MPs kill plan to bridge Sicily and mainland". The Guardian.
- ^ "Italian minister commits to Messina Bridge". Bridge Design and Engineering. 27 May 2008. Archived from the original on 6 July 2009.
- ^ "Ponte stretto: al via i lavori (Straits bridge: Work begins)" (in Italian). ItaliaOnLine. 23 December 2009. Archived from the original on 18 May 2016.
- ^ Samuels, Gabriel (27 September 2016). "Italian PM Matteo Renzi revives plan for bridge from mainland Italy to Sicily". The Independent.
- ^ "Ponte Messina: slitta a luglio 2020 l'udienza del Tar su contenzioso con Salini Impregilo" (in Italian). stradeeautostrade.it. 7 October 2019.
- ^ "Use crisis to redesign country - Conte". Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata. 3 June 2010.
As for a revived proposal to build a bridge across the Messina Strait to Sicily, Conte said "I will evaluate everything without prejudice".
- ^ "Conte: "On EU funds, comparison with everyone, it is not a treasure of the government"". archyde.com. 4 June 2010.
And the Messina bridge? "I will also evaluate without prejudice the bridge over the Strait." And the Mes? "When we have the regulations I will study them and with Parliament we will decide."
- ^ ""Il Ponte sullo Stretto? Ce lo facciamo da soli": il patto di Musumeci con Salini" (in Italian). lasicilia.it. 22 April 2021.
- ^ "Ponte Stretto: Salini, è cantierabile, siamo pronti a farlo". Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata (in Italian). 22 April 2021.
- ^ "Pietro Salini at "Quarta Repubblica": We are ready to build the Strait of Messina Bridge | WeBuild Group". webuildgroup. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
- ^ "Sicily bridge constructor named". BBC News. 12 October 2005.
- ^ Straits Bridge: Impregilo and Stretto di Messina close contract Archived 18 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
- ^ "Salini Impregilo cambia nome: da oggi nasce Webuild - la Repubblica". Repubblica.it. 4 May 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- ^ "Messina Straits Bridge". Structurae.
The greatest problem in designing the bridge is the aerodynamic stability of the deck under wind as well as seismic activity.
Further reading
- Spadi, Fabio (2001). "The Bridge on the Strait of Messina: 'Lowering' the Right of Innocent Passage?". International and Comparative Law Quarterly (50): 411.
- "From Rome to Sicily: Plane or Train?". The New York Times. 7 February 2008.
- Brancaleoni, Fabio; Diana, Giorgio; Faccioli, Ezio; Fiammenghi, Giuseppe; Firth, Ian; Gimsing, Niels J.; Jamiolkowski, Michele; Sluszka, Peter; Solari, Giovanni; Valensise, Gianluca; Vullo, Enzo (2009). The Messina Strait Bridge - A Challenge and a Dream. Taylor and Francis. ISBN 978-0-415-46814-5.