Berlusconi was re-elected prime minister in 2008 and revived the project, which was again approved three years later – despite the price tag. increased from 6.16 billion euros ($6.72 billion) to 8.5 billion euros. But soon, amid a severe debt crisis in the euro area, Berlusconi lost his majority and resigned. His successor, Mario Monti, a respected technocrat, canceled the project for the last time in 2013.
Now, the same project has been revived by the current government, which in mid-March passed a decree paving the way for the construction of the bridge. This time, it was backed by Matteo Salvini, Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the populist League party—with backing from Berlusconi, now 86, who wrote, “This time they won’t stop us. ” on an Instagram parcel on the date the decree is signed.
According to Nicola Chielotti, a lecturer in international diplomacy and governance at Loughborough University in London, one of the reasons the project continues to be revived is that so many people profited from the work of planning it. it, even if it never materializes, and there are some interest groups that are happy to take that money.”
Salvini herself was admit that “it will be less expensive to build a bridge than not to build it.”
Another issue, Chielotti adds, is that the project is a useful political pawn for a government that has so far remained silent on some key electoral promises, such as tax reform and a positive stance. positive for international finance.
But the project’s intense politicization – leading mainly to support from the right and opposition from the left – could also be a case of “infrastructure populism”, according to Angelini. “The rhetoric around the bridge is fueling nationalism, and the idea is seen as a symbol of Italian grandeur, or the ability to build a bridge longer than any other,” he said. who ever had.”
The current design for the intersection is a single beat The suspension bridge is 3,300 meters long. That’s 60 percent longer than Canakkale Bridge in Türkiye, is currently the longest suspension bridge in the world with a length of 2,023 meters. With its pillars towering at 380 meters (1,250 feet), the Messina Strait Bridge will also be the world’s tallest bridge by structure height, surpassing Millau viaduct in France, 342 meters high. It can carry 6,000 land vehicles per hour and 200 trains per day, and since the span will be 65 meters above the water surface, naval traffic can pass beneath it unimpeded.
Train travel time between the island and the mainland — currently around two hours including the ferry journey — will drop to less than 10 minutes, bringing the nearly 5 million people living in Sicily closer to the rest of Italy.
Previous plans, said Muscolino, were for three spans with two pylons to be built in the sea, each pier sinking 80 to 100 meters below sea level. These would not be possible due to strong currents in the strait and would create risks for shipping.
