Italy’s €13.5bn Messina Bridge to Break World Record

Italy is set to make engineering history with the construction of a €13.5 billion bridge across the Strait of Messina, poised to become the world’s longest suspension bridge. 

The long-delayed Messina Bridge project received the approval from Italy’s Interministerial Committee for Economic Planning and Sustainable Development on August 6. 

The approval cleared the way for construction to begin under an international consortium led by Milan-based Webuild Group, operating as the general contractor through Eurolink.

The proposed bridge will physically connect Sicily with the Italian mainland for the first time in history via what is set to become the longest suspension bridge span in the world.

Stretching 3,666 metres, the Messina Bridge – hailed as a landmark feat of engineering – will carry road and rail traffic across one of Europe’s most challenging geological settings.

Innovative link

Designed to withstand powerful seismic activity and winds reaching speeds of 292 kilometres per hour, the bridge’s technical specifications are as impressive as its scale. 

At its heart are two soaring steel towers, each rising 399 metres, taller than the Empire State Building, and suspension cables measuring 5,320 metres in length and 1.26 metres in diameter. Webuild has described the cables as an “engineering first.”

The bridge deck, which spans 60 metres in width, will accommodate six motorway lanes, two railway tracks, and additional service lanes. It will support up to 6,000 vehicles per hour and up to 200 trains a day.

Despite its colossal size, careful attention has been given to navigability beneath the bridge. Seventy-two metres of sea clearance has been factored in, enough to allow large vessels to pass, and it drops slightly to 70 metres when the bridge is fully loaded with trains and vehicles.

The structure will also be equipped with a smart monitoring system designed to support predictive maintenance and ensure its longevity.

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Eurolink, which comprises several major international players, including Japan’s IHI, Spain’s Sacyr, and Italian firms Condotte and Itinera, has been tasked with construction work.

Danish firm Cowi is responsible for completing the bridge’s design.

The project includes significant infrastructure upgrades planned on both shores. About 40 kilometres of roads and railway lines will be improved, along with three new train stations in Messina and a multifunctional centre in Calabria.

“All of these complementary works will profoundly change mobility for the two regions, whilst protecting the surrounding environment,” Webuild said in a statement.

Decades of delay

The idea of a fixed link between Sicily and the mainland has captured Italy’s imagination for generations. The first formal tender was issued as far back as 1969 by the country’s public works ministry. Yet, despite repeated attempts to bring the concept to life, political hesitancy and shifting priorities meant construction never began.

Momentum returned briefly in 2003 when the project was revived under new legislation. In 2006, Eurolink was awarded the contract, but a 2012 Law-Decree halted the project for over a decade. It was revived in March 2023 through new legislation tied to national infrastructure plans.

Webuild’s chief executive, Pietro Salini, called the contract a defining moment for Italy’s construction and engineering sectors:

“It marks the start of a new season of vision, courage and confidence in the capabilities of Italian industry and the entire infrastructure sector.”

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