The construction of the Messina
Bridge will begin at the end of April and the world's longest
suspension bridge linking Sicily to the Italian mainland will be
completed by 2032, Webuild CEO Pietro Salini said Friday.
"I hope to be there and to be able to cross it together with the
whole team by the end of 2032", joked the CEO of Webuild,
reiterating that "we are ready, as well as all the industrial
partners, to proudly begin this very important project for Italy
and especially for the South".
The investment currently estimated for the construction of the
Bridge over the Strait of Messina, the 40 kilometers of road and
rail links, the three new train stations and the business center
in Calabria is 13.5 billion euros, he said, presenting record
results for last year.
Transport Minister and Deputy Premier Matteo Salvini, the
bridge's latest and current champion, said recently that the
construction of what would be the world's longest suspension
bridge would be the biggest anti-mafia operation imaginable,
after criticism of possible Mob infiltration.
"It will create more than 100,000 jobs according to the
company's estimates and will be the largest anti-mafia
operation," the League leader said at a conference on the
project.
"Because someone says: don't build the bridge in Sicily and
Calabria because there is the Mafia and the 'Ndrangheta'. It's
crazy. The mafia thrives where there is desperation, where young
people have no future and no work. The bridge will bring work,
wealth, beauty, will save tons of CO2 in the air, so it will be
one of the greenest bridges in the world".
The project, which was first championed by late three-time
ex-premier and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi, has been delayed
due to its high cost, environmental concerns, and fears of mafia
infiltration on both sides of the Strait, by 'Ndrangheta in
Calabria and Cosa Nostra in Sicily.
The bridge will span over two miles, or 3.2 km, and become by
far the world's longest suspension bridge.
Currently, the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge in Turkey holds the record
with a span of 2,023
metres (6,637 ft).
The project has been tweaked several times, most recently to
raise its height so that cruise ships can pass underneath.
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