Italy Advances Plans for World’s Longest Suspension Bridge Linking Sicily

Italy is preparing to launch construction of what would be the world’s longest suspension bridge, aiming to connect the island of Sicily to the mainland via the Strait of Messina. The €13.5 billion ($15.3 billion) infrastructure project is set to begin this summer, pending final government approval.

The bridge will span 3.3 kilometers between its towers, accommodating trains and six lanes of vehicular traffic. Once completed, it will reduce travel time across the strait to just 15 minutes by car. The initiative, backed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government, is being promoted as a strategic driver of economic growth in southern Italy.

Long mythologized as the perilous home of Scylla and Charybdis in Homer’s Odyssey, the Strait of Messina still presents serious challenges today, including powerful winds exceeding 100 km/h (62 mph) and seismic activity due to its location between two tectonic plates.

Despite these risks, officials emphasize that the bridge will be an engineering marvel. Infrastructure Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, a leading advocate of the project, described it as a “catalyst for development” during a recent visit to Reggio di Calabria, the city where the bridge will originate.

The bridge is also seen as a solution to the economic disadvantages caused by Sicily’s geographic isolation, which local authorities estimate results in an annual “insularity cost” of €6.5 billion.

Rome is expected to fully finance the project, with cabinet approval anticipated later this month. Salvini reaffirmed that construction will begin this summer, although similar plans were delayed last year — continuing a pattern that dates back to proposals first made in the late 19th century during the unification of Italy.

Source: AFP