ROME: The Italian government will finalise approval for a €13.5 billion project to construct the world’s longest suspension bridge, linking Sicily to the mainland.
Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini confirmed a ministerial committee will endorse the state-funded Strait of Messina bridge, calling it a historic milestone after decades of planning.
The bridge will feature two railway lines and three traffic lanes on each side, with a record-breaking 3.3km suspended span between 400m-high towers.
Scheduled for completion by 2032, officials claim the structure is engineered to resist earthquakes and strong winds in the tectonically active region.
The government anticipates economic growth and job creation in Sicily and Calabria, with Salvini projecting tens of thousands of new employment opportunities.
However, the project faces opposition over environmental concerns and criticisms of excessive costs that could fund other priorities.
Skeptics doubt its realisation, citing Italy’s history of abandoned infrastructure projects despite initial funding.
Plans for the bridge date back over 50 years, with a 2006 tender awarded to Eurolink before being scrapped during the eurozone crisis.
The revived project retains Eurolink, led by Webuild, as the primary contractor.
Rome has classified the bridge’s cost as defence spending to align with NATO’s increased budget demands under US pressure.
Italy aims to allocate 1.5% of its defence budget to infrastructure, leveraging Sicily’s NATO base to justify the bridge’s eligibility. – AFP