Italy is poised to fulfil an ancient Roman tradition after a £11.8bn bridge connecting the mainland to a beautiful European island was given the green light. The huge 2.2 mile bridge will stretch across the Strait of Messina linking the sun drenched island of Sicily with mainland Italy, the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.
Set to become one of Europe’s most ambitious infrastructure projects The Messina Bridge will become the world’s longest suspension bridge, a record-breaking feat that many thought would never get off the ground. Talks of the multibillion-euro bridge have been in the pipeline ever since the Romans supposedly proposed the overpass. It came very close to fruition back in 2009, but was stopped in 2013 when the company created to oversee its construction closed down.
It now looks like work is set to start again on the Strait of Messina bridge – and it could be as early as this year.
An unnamed source told Reuters on Monday that the Italian Government is expected to give the go-ahead for the project on August 7. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has set aside 11.8bn (€13.5bn) for the project.
Construction will be led by the Italian company Webuild and overseen by the Messina Strait company.
Once complete, the Strait of Messina Bridge will be the longest suspension bridge in the world at 3,600 metres long and designed to withstand a 7.5 magnitude earthquake and 186 mph winds.
Earmarked for completion in 2032, the bridge will accommodate up to 200 trains per day and 6,000 vehicles per hour.
“The updated value of the investment, following the finalisation of the additional agreements with all the various contractors, remains confirmed at €13.5 billion, fully covered by the 2025 Budget Law and the capital increase of the Stretto di Messina railway company signed in 2023,” said the Messina Strait company.
Once complete, the Messina Bridge will cut journey times between Sicily and the rest of Italy, ending the reliance on ferry services that can be disrupted by bad weather.
Until the highly anticipated bridge is built touriss and locals will have to get between the two sides via the old-fashioned ways. Plane and ferry are the most common ways to traverse the Strait of Messina.
The regular ferry route operates between Messina in Sicily and Reggio Calabria in Calabria taking around half an hour to do the crossing.