Italy restarts the project to build a bridge between Sicily and Calabria

The never-ending story of building a bridge connecting the Italian regions of Sicily and Calabria could enter the final stage, construction. After centuries of ambitions never materialized to save the little more than three kilometers that separate the largest Mediterranean island from the continent, conservative executive Giorgia Meloni approved a decree on Thursday night that reinstates the old project from 2012, when she also governed the right. build this colossal infrastructure. After updating the plans from eleven years ago with the latest environmental, technical and safety regulations, it is expected that the works will start before autumn 2024, which in principle should take about five years.

The construction of the Messina Strait Bridge has always been surrounded by controversy for its own sake gigantic costsince it is estimated that it will be about 7,000 million euros, and because it will grow in an area with a high seismic risk. Namely, the Sicilian city from which he will leave was destroyed in an earthquake in 1908. His detractors also claim that the infrastructure would entail “a very high and unsustainable ecological price”, as condemned by the environmental organization WWF, reminding that the Strait of Messina is a key place for the transit of birds and marine mammals and has great biodiversity.

With theirs 3.6 kilometers long, three tire lanes in both directions and double track In order for trains to be able to run, the Strait Bridge will be built by the same consortium that won the public tender eleven years ago, Eurolink, led by the company Webuild, which also includes the Spanish company Sacyr.

For Matteo Salvinithe vice president of the government and the head of the department for infrastructure and transport, giving the bridge a free hand means “a historic day not only for Calabria and Sicily, but also for all of Italy.” The executive branch, however, included a caveat in the approval decree, stating that the infrastructure would go ahead “except in the event of an agreement.”

The first stone of summer

Despite the fact that the text leaves the door open to possible delays, Salvini insisted this Friday that the project be implemented It will be approved “before July 31, 2024”, so that the first stone can be laid during that summer. She also reacted to those who warn of the great danger of devastating earthquakes in the area. “There is seismicity in Italy, as well as in Turkey and Japan, and there are bridges there,” he stated, explaining that in 2012 studies were done in this sense by “Italian, Spanish, Japanese and American” companies that guaranteed safety. “No problems with tides, wind or seismic”emphasized Salvini, convinced that Italy will have “the most beautiful, greenest and safest bridge in the world”.

And for his partner in the government coalition, Silvio Berlusconi, it was a joy to renew his old ambition of connecting Sicily and Calabria, which he has been talking about since he entered politics at the end of the last century. In 2006, he managed to sign the contract on the construction of the bridge, but the political crisis caused a change of government and the coming to power of the leftist Roman Prodi, who considered the infrastructure “useless and harmful”. Two years later, the tycoon returned to the Executive Power, but the bridge project then remained in the drawer due to the economic crisis, which ultimately meant the end of his government.