A €13.5 billion bet on the Italian south cleared its biggest hurdle on Wednesday. An interministerial committee that oversees strategic public investment approved a bridge across the Strait of Messina, tying Sicily to the mainland.
Transport Minister Matteo Salvini put the economic case first. Studies he cited show 120,000 jobs a year and faster growth for a lagging south, with billions more spent on roads and rail around the bridge. He called the package a “development accelerator” for Sicily and Calabria. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the bridge “will be an engineering symbol of global significance.”
Scale, timing and the builder
The bridge would run nearly 3.7 kilometers, with a suspended span of 3.3 kilometers. That tops Türkiye’s Canakkale Bridge, now the longest, by 1,277 meters. Two railway lines would run down the center with three lanes of road traffic on either side, built to carry 6,000 cars an hour and 200 trains a day. A ferry trip of up to 100 minutes would become a 10-minute drive.
Webuild leads the consortium that won the contract. The Italian group also took the bid in 2006, before the project was canceled. Chief executive Pietro Salini said the bridge “will be transformative for the whole country.” Webuild says the Canakkale Bridge, which opened in 2022, used a similar engineering design.
Salvini told reporters preliminary work could start between late September and early October, once Italy’s court of audit signs off, with construction expected the following year. He said completion is still targeted for 2032 to 2033 despite the paperwork. DW reported the latest plans as calling for 2032.
Critics and unanswered questions
The project has been discussed since the 1960s, and Rome first sought proposals in 1969. It has been approved and canceled several times. Ministers described Wednesday’s decision as the furthest it has ever gone, and the Meloni government revived it in 2023. Plenty of people still expect it will never be built.
Critics question a record bridge in an earthquake zone, the price, damage to the environment and the risk of mafia infiltration in contracts. Environmental associations filed a complaint with the European Union earlier this week. They say studies have not shown the bridge is a public necessity and that any damage would be offset.
Nicola Fratoianni, a Greens and Left Alliance MP, attacked a “mega-project that will divert a huge amount of public resources” and warned it “risks turning into a gigantic black hole.” The Democratic Party said the plan “tramples environmental, safety and European norms, and common sense.”
Salvini also suggested a defense role. “It is obvious that it is dual-use and can therefore be used for security reasons too,” he said. Italy wants the bridge counted toward the NATO target of 5% of GDP on defense, with the government saying it would help meet a 1.5% security component. More than 600 professors and researchers signed a letter opposing the military classification.
On organized crime, Salvini promised the protocols used for Expo 2015 and the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, after Italy’s president insisted the project remain under standard anti-mafia law instead of Interior Ministry control. Work cannot start until the auditors rule.
Sources
- Italy approves controversial bridge tying Sicily to mainland
- Italy approves $15.5 billion project to build world’s longest suspension bridge from mainland to Sicily
