Italy: Bridge over Strait of Messina, Final Design Approved
There is still a lot of bureaucracy to be done, and it will cost 14 billion euros. The Italian Ministry of Infrastructure would like work to start as early as 2024, with delivery in 2032
The board of directors of Stretto di Messina has approved a bridge project that should supposedly – the word “supposedly” is mandatory – connect the Italian regions of Calabria and Sicily.
Thus resumes the complicated process that should lead in 2032 to the construction of the longest single-span bridge (3300 meters long) in the world. The infrastructure will include 3 traffic lanes in each direction, 2 service lanes, and 2 railroad tracks. The project includes construction of 40 km of road and rail interchanges (80% of them in tunnels) that will connect the bridge in Calabria with the Mediterranean highway and the Villa San Giovanni railway station, as well as – in Sicily – with the new Messina station and the highways leading from this Sicilian city to Catania and Palermo.
“This is an excellent result,” commented Stretto di Messina CEO Pietro Ciucci, “achieved in just a few months thanks to the government’s commitment. It is confirmed as an outstanding project, technically advanced, and recognized as a benchmark internationally.”
The recently approved project was reviewed and corrected by general contractor Eurolink under the direction of Webuild. The project now has to be updated with regard to safety regulations and environmental impact assessment (EIA); expropriation also needs to be discussed and finalized, and an executive design is still to be prepared. The cost of the work is 13.5 billion euros, to which another billion must be added for ancillary works.
While Italian Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini is rejoicing over the job he has been particularly clamoring for, political opposition to the bridge is strong: the Democratic Party and other Italian leftist groups have petitioned for an investigation into the implementation of the work.
There is talk of transparency issues and the 14 billion that will be deducted from other infrastructure work that southern Italy needs most. There are widespread doubts about the economic sustainability of the project.
For its part, Stretto di Messina’s board of directors also approved the cost-benefit analysis, “which showed how the project is able to generate a mainly positive economic net present value (NPV) with an internal rate of return 4.5% higher than the minimum level required by current legislation (3%).” According to reports from Webuild, the company that will build the infrastructure, the project is expected to contribute €2.9 billion to the national economy each year, equivalent to 0.17% of Italian GDP.
The bureaucratic process now includes approval from the Interagency Committee on Economic Planning and Sustainability (CIPESS), expected in mid-2024, which will also provide an economic and financial assessment of the project.
If the bridge across the Strait of Messina is indeed built, it will become the cornerstone of the Scan-Med project, a communications and freight transportation route that would facilitate trade from north to south of Europe, from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean.
