For millennia, the only way to get from mainland Italy to Sicily has been to travel by boat. These days, it’s a relatively quick trip, with the fastest crossing from Calabria to Messina lasting just 20 minutes. There’s even an option to take a train onto the ferry, with the entire train loaded on, so passengers don’t even need to leave their cabins. Or, depending on the starting point of your trip, you could fly into one of the island’s airports.
However, there could soon be an even more convenient travel route available, as plans are underway to connect the landmasses with the world’s longest single-span suspension bridge. The proposal to construct the Strait of Messina Bridge, with an estimated cost of $15.5 billion, was recently approved by Italy’s government, under the direction of transport minister Matteo Salvini and prime minister Giorgia Meloni.
If the massive infrastructure project goes ahead, it would cover a distance of more than two miles. At 10,800 feet (3,300 m), the bridge’s main span would dramatically surpass the current world record holder, the Çanakkale Bridge in Turkey, which opened in 2022 with a main span of 6,637.1 feet (2,023 m).
The Strait of Messina Bridge would take around seven years to complete, and would allow an estimated 6,000 vehicles to cross daily on its six lanes of car traffic, as well as around 200 train crossings on its rail lines. It would also have pedestrian lanes, bringing the total width to around 200 feet.
The Meloni government has designated the bridge as part of its defense strategy, arguing that it counts towards its NATO defense spending targets. The bridge would generate approximately 120,000 jobs annually.
To bridge or not to bridge:
- Unsurprisingly for a project of such immensity, the Strait of Messina Bridge has already caused plenty of controversy, with protests in Messina earlier this month attracting thousands of people. Around five hundred families would need to leave their homes to make room for the bridge.
- Though the bridge has been projected to last around 200 years, it could be weakened by the effects of earthquakes, currents, saltwater, and strong winds. It would also have a noticeable impact on ecosystems and bird migration routes.
- Others have voiced concerns about whether the bridge is a sensible way to spend $15 billion, rather than investing in other ways in local communities. There are also worries about whether the mafia groups Cosa Nostra and ’Ndrangheta would manage to infiltrate the project.
- In the first century AD, the Roman philosopher and military leader Pliny the Elder proposed linking Sicily with the mainland using a long series of connected boats and barrels.
