The Italian Council of Ministers approved the first decree for the construction of a Bridge over the Strait of Messina. The project, dating back to 2011, currently proposes a single-span suspended bridge, with a distance of 3.2 kilometers between Calabria and Sicily, in order to circumvent the possible problems generated by the specific hydrogeological conditions of the Strait.

It is since 1969 that in Italy it is thought to build the bridge, and over the decades hundreds of millions of euros have already been spent, the problem, however, is that – beyond the suspicions of mafia infiltration, conflicts of interest and all the various bureaucratic delays – at the moment it seems impossible to verify the feasibility of the project, because of the seismic risk, as well as the particular condition of tides and winds.

However, Minister of Infrastructure Matteo Salvini stated that “The bridge was validated and designed by Italian, Spanish, Japanese and American companies. The higher a structure, the more it resists seismicity, there is no problem of tides, wind, seismicity”.

The executive project is going to be approved by 31 July and the construction works should begin immediately after.

Cover image is courtesy of ANSA.