After decades of planning and much controversy, Italy’s government has finally approved the construction of a $15.6bn bridge connecting Sicily to the mainland.
The Strait of Messina Bridge will span the waters that separate the island of Sicily from the region of Calabria, linking the towns of Messina and Villa San Giovanni. If completed, the suspended single-span bridge would become the longest of its kind in the world, capable of carrying both road and rail traffic.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government has made the project a priority, earmarking €13.5bn ($15.6bn) over the next decade for the bridge and associated infrastructure. Meloni’s administration sees the project not only as a driver of economic development in one of Italy’s poorest regions, but also as a strategic asset tied to national and NATO security objectives.
The construction contract has been awarded to the Eurolink consortium, led by Italy’s largest construction firm, Webuild. Spanish infrastructure group Sacyr and Japan’s IHI Corporation are also part of the consortium, which won the bid through an international tender.
Efforts to bridge the Strait of Messina date back to antiquity. The strait’s turbulent waters, immortalized in Homer’s Odyssey, have long symbolized the challenge of uniting Sicily with the mainland. Now, with government backing and international engineering muscle, a centuries-old vision may finally become reality.
