Italy greenlights €13 billion project to build world's largest suspension bridge to Sicily

Italy gave the final approval on Wednesday to build what would be the world's longest suspension bridge, connecting Sicily to the mainland, despite concerns including earthquakes, environmental impacts and the threat of mafia interference.

An inter-ministerial committee with oversight of strategic public investments approved the €13.5 billion project, the Transport Ministry said in a statement.

Transport Minister Matteo Salvini said the project will be "an accelerator for development" in southern Italy.

Preliminary work could begin later this summer with construction set to start next year. Despite bureaucratic delays, the bridge is expected to be finished by 2033, Salvini said.

The Strait of Messina Bridge has been approved and cancelled multiple times since the Italian government first solicited proposals in 1969, and was most recently revived by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s administration in 2023.

"It is not easy work, but it is an investment in Italy's present and future, a difficult but sensible challenge," Meloni said, calling the bridge "a strategic infrastructure for the development of Southern Italy and the entire country".

The idea of constructing a link between Sicily and the mainland dates back to ancient Rome.

The decision marks a political victory for Salvini, who has made the realisation of the bridge a hallmark of his tenure, saying it would be "a revolution" by bringing jobs and economic growth.

The Strait of Messina Bridge would measure nearly 3.7 kilometres, with the suspended span reaching 3.3 kilometres, surpassing Turkey's Çanakkale Bridge.

With four lanes of traffic flanked by a double-track railway, the bridge would have the capacity to carry 6,000 cars an hour and 200 trains a day.

Security in the spotlight

The project could provide a boost to Italy's commitment to raise defence spending to 5% of GDP targeted by NATO, as the government has indicated it would classify the bridge as defence-related, helping it to meet a 1.5% security component.

Italy argues that the bridge would form a strategic corridor for rapid troop movements and equipment deployment to NATO's southern flanks, qualifying it as "security-enhancing infrastructure".

A group of more than 600 professors and researchers signed a letter earlier this summer opposing the military classification, noting that such a move would require additional assessments to see if it could withstand military use.

Opponents also say the designation would potentially make the bridge a target.

Environmental groups have lodged additional complaints with the EU. They have cited concerns that the project will impact migratory birds, while also noting that environmental studies had not demonstrated that the project is a public imperative and that any environmental damage would be offset.

The original government decree reactivating the bridge project included language giving the interior ministry control over anti-mafia measures.

But Italian President Sergio Mattarella insisted that the project remain subject to anti-mafia legislation that applies to all large-scale infrastructure projects in the country, due to concerns that the ad-hoc arrangement would weaken controls.

The project has been awarded to a consortium led by WeBuild, an Italian infrastructure group, which initially won the bid to build the bridge in 2006 before it was later cancelled in 2013.

The Çanakkale Bridge, which opened in 2022 and was constructed by WeBuild, was built using the engineering model originally devised for the Messina Bridge, with a wing profile and a deck shape that resembles a fighter jet fuselage with openings to allow wind to pass through the structure.

Addressing concerns about building the bridge over the Messina fault, which triggered a deadly quake in 1908, WeBuild emphasised that suspension bridges are structurally less vulnerable to seismic forces.

It noted that such bridges have been built in seismically active areas, including Japan, Turkey and California.

WeBuild CEO Pietro Salini told investors this month that the Messina Bridge "will be a game-changer for Italy."