Strait of Messina Bridge

38.24910115.632343Koordinaten: 38 ° 14 ' 56.8 " N, 15 ° 37' 56.4 " E

F1

E 45 railway axis Berlin -Palermo

Strait of Messina

Ganzirri, Sicily

A bridge over the Straits of Messina (Italian Ponte sullo Stretto di Messina) to cross the Strait of Messina and connect Sicily as part of the E 45 and the railway axis Berlin -Palermo with the Italian mainland. For the construction and operation of the bridge, the Public Company Stretto di Messina SpA 1981 founded.

The construction of a bridge over the Strait of Messina had been discussed several times during the 20th century. The most recent preliminary dates from the year 2003. Execution of the project was stopped in March 2013 after the general contractor had resigned from the project in November, 2012.

Project 2003

In October 2005, the consortium received € link to the Northern Italian construction group Impregilo SpA As general contractor, the contract with a contract value of 3.9 billion euros. Construction was scheduled for 2007. The bridge is intended to supplement the ferry service between Messina ( Sicily) and the mainland at Villa San Giovanni and Reggio Calabria in Calabria. This would also be a direct connection to the motorways A3 (Calabria ) and A18 or A20 (both Sicily) enabled.

In case of completion would be the bridge with a main span of 3300 meters, a total length of 3666 meters and a tower height of 382.60 meters, the longest and highest suspension bridge in the world.

On 11 October 2006, the Italian Chamber of Deputies decided to suspend the implementation of the project. Especially Transport Minister Alessandro Bianchi and Environment Minister Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio that were since 17 May 2006 under Prime Minister Romano Prodi in office, had criticized the project as nonsensical and damaging to the environment. The size and cost of the bridge was inadequate because of weak infrastructure Sicily. It would be more effective and less costly, initially to improve the island's infrastructure and accelerate the modernization and expansion of roads in southern Italy. The construction of the bridge areas requiring protection would be destroyed on both sides of the strait. In addition, there is a danger that the construction project would infiltrated by organized crime.

The controversial plans have been pushed forward again since the re-election of Silvio Berlusconi in April 2008. Official Construction began on 23 December 2009, with completion scheduled construction of the bridge was for the year 2016. The cost of the project were recognized, according to the newspaper L'espresso to around 7.9 billion euros.

The elaborate project for the construction of the bridge was 29 July 2011 by the Board of the Stretto di Messina SpA approved and announced the start of construction in mid-2012. But it still lacked the consent of the Interministerial Committee for Economic Planning (Italian Comitato per la Interministeriale Programmazione Economica, abbreviated CIPE ), which was expected for February 2012. The official cost forecast was raised to 8.5 billion euros. Since the resignation of Berlusconi on 9 November 2011, it was uncertain whether the bridge would be ever built. In December 2012, Parliament passed a law that required a supplementary agreement between the general contractor and the operator compelling, which should have been signed on March 1, 2013 at the latest. The law required that after the signing of the documents of the project must be passed to the CIPE for review within 60 days.

The government of Prime Minister Mario Monti made ​​for 300 million euro provision for the renegotiation after the general contractor Euro Link had resigned from the work contract. After the supplementary agreement was still not signed on March 1, 2013, the treaty between € link and Stretto di Messina SpA were invalid and the resolution of the operating company was initiated.

Note value

• During construction of the bridge significant geological uncertainties must be considered. Thus, the continental drift between the island of Sicily and the mainland leading to seismic activity in the Straits. An earthquake and subsequent tsunami in 1908 caused the complete destruction of the cities of Messina and Reggio Calabria.
• The earthquake hazard includes supporting elements on the seabed. For this reason, the bridge was designed with a record span of about three kilometers.
• To continue to allow ship traffic on the busy street of Messina, to the bridge at its highest point is 65 meters above the sea. That is why, even large cruise ships and container ships pass under the bridge.
• The superstructure consists of three bars: in the middle of one of the railroad, outside the two for the road. Between the beams, a free space is left, which should make the bridge less susceptible to vibrations caused by the wind.
• Before and after the bridge the tracks of the two directions of traffic are crossed, ie the west moving traffic out south of the railway line, the east -propelled north of the railway line. This causes the heavy truck run closer to the center of the bridge and wherein the weight distribution of the bridge is more advantageous.