The Longest Bridge

The longest bridge in the world will be built in the Straits of Messina, uniting Sicily to the Italian mainland. In October 12, 2005, the government announced the winner that will construct this project. Impregilo S.p.A. was awarded the 3.88 billion Euro. Construction is set to start this year an will be completed by the year 2012.

Impregilo is a mutinational based in italy with significant expertise in major projects of this magnitude. Their press release states: "Impregilo is the constructor of some of Europe’s and the world’s most important infrastructures. Current general contractor projects in Italy include the Milan-Turin and Bologna-Florence high-speed railways, the Mestre Orbital, the Salerno-Reggio Calabria motorway, the Monte Bianco-Aosta motorway and the Genoa and Naples underground railways. Abroad, Impregilo is working on the St Gothard railway tunnel in Switzerland, the Caracas-Tuy Medio and Puerto Cabello-Encrujiada railways in Venezuela, the Athens underground, the Karahnjukar dam in Iceland and the Mazar dam in Ecuador, and the Portland tunnel in the USA."

The idea for this bridge has been around since 1960. As a young boy I heard many legends about the coming of this bridge. Many ridiculing its outcome. I recall a cartoon depicting the two oposing construction sides meeting in the middle of the Messina Straits with each side off by a substantial distance. Jokes like that often mirror the reality of the issues confronting such a project in a country that typically can't agree on much. In Sicily, funds for projects that are earmarked to improve the lives the the average Sicilian, end up in the pockets of crooked politicians who themselves are in the pockets of the Mafia. Although, I have to admit that much has changed in recent years to hopefully assure that this project will be closely monitored and scrutinized specifically to keep the crooks away.

Bridge Stats:

• A lenght of almost 2.5 miles
• Double 6 lanes highway
• Four Railway tracks for high speed trains
• Reducing the time to cross the Strait from 2 hours to 3 minutes.

You can find detailed information at the official Strait of Messina Bridge site.

Update:

Unfortunately, when the new governmenr of PM Romano Prodi took power, the first thing they did was to kill this project. The funds allocated to this project are being redirected to other areas of the nation. As alway, many escuses were given for killing the project, but basically it boils down to denying the southern parts of Italy the due shares of needed funds that would infuse economic reforms. One of the reasons mentiones was that the vast project would enrich southern Italy's network of organized crime. Undoubtedly, I say, the funds will be transfered to enrich northern Italy's extensive organized political crime network.