The construction of what would be the
world's longest suspension bridge across the Messina Strait from
Sicily to mainland Italy is the biggest anti-mafia operation
imaginable, Transport Minister and Deputy Premier Matteo Salvini
said Friday.
"The Bridge over the Strait is a construction site that will not
only unite Sicily and Calabria after a century of chatter,
Messina and Villa San Giovanni, but will unite Italy to Europe,
to the world," the rightwing League party leader said on the
sidelines of the conference 'Bridges and viaducts. Guidelines
for verification and control. Design and construction',
organized by the National Agency for the safety of railways and
road and motorway infrastructure, ANSFISA.
"It will create more than 100,000 jobs according to the
company's estimates and will be the largest anti-mafia
operation.
"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 director of ANSFISA, Domenico Capomolla and the CEO of the
Stretto di Messina bridge construction company, Pietro Ciucci,
signed a memorandum of understanding for the development of the
executive design of the bridge's monitoring systems during the
drafting of the executive project.
"Today the technicians signed an agreement that provides for the
total safety of what will be a public work studied around the
world", commented Salvini.
The bridge is currently costed at 4.6 billion euro and is
scheduled to come into use in the early 2030s.
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 project's current champion, Salvini, has said construction
sites will open by the end of the year and it will take seven
years to complete the bridge.
It 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
since opening to traffic in March 2022, with a span of 2,023
metres (6,637 ft).
Since 1998, the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Japan had previously
held the record with a span of 1,991 metres (6,532 ft).
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