https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/travel/article/italy-messina-bridge-sicily-intl/index.html (https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/travel/article/italy-messina-bridge-sicily-intl/index.html)
https://www.ansa.it/english/news/2023/07/25/first-real-cash-for-messina-bridge-in-budget-says-salvini_ecce63fe-0e48-4b2e-a789-22124c507ff8.html (https://www.ansa.it/english/news/2023/07/25/first-real-cash-for-messina-bridge-in-budget-says-salvini_ecce63fe-0e48-4b2e-a789-22124c507ff8.html)
Italy's 2024 budget will include some funds towards the long discussed Strait of Messina bridge, connecting Sicily and mainland Italy. The oft-proposed bridge could have its groundbreaking in July 2024 if all goes well. Since this is a transport forum and not a political one, I'll just note that this could be huge for Sicily to be connected to the European mainland by rail or car without needing a ferry. Will it happen? Bump this thread in a year and we'll find out.
Announcements like these have been made various times over the past few decades, and nothing came of it.
While I do believe there is a bona fide justification for a bridge like this, the engineering is incredibly complex. Not to mention the influence of organized crime in Southern Italy.
Also, the Strait of Messina is an active seismic zone, greatly complicating the engineering involved.
Mike
I really hope this happens. This will be awesome to watch be constructed and one day drive on.
Quote from: mgk920 on July 26, 2023, 11:10:41 AM
Also, the Strait of Messina is an active seismic zone, greatly complicating the engineering involved.
Mike
Didn't the Dardanelles Strait bridge in Turkey is also located in a active seismic zone as well?
Yes, and not to mention various large bridges in California, the Pacific Northwest, or Japan. So that part is manageable.
However the Strait of Messina is over 3 kilometers wide and very deep. So that rules out both a tunnel and bridges with spans that have been built so far. The Norwegians have the same challenge with some fjord crossings (albeit not seismically active).
Another issue is the high wind speeds in the Strait of Messina. It's a funnel, flanked by mountain ranges.
The problem with a tunnel is that the grade cannot be steep for the railroad, so it would require incredibly long approach tunnels to get to -150 meters.
Here's a bathymetric map:
(https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Riccardo-Droghei/publication/309637871/figure/fig1/AS:424328052383744@1478179099183/The-Messina-Strait-and-the-studied-sand-wave-field-a-Bathymetric-map-of-the-Messina.png)
Quote from: Chris on July 29, 2023, 03:28:41 PM
Yes, and not to mention various large bridges in California, the Pacific Northwest, or Japan. So that part is manageable.
However the Strait of Messina is over 3 kilometers wide and very deep. So that rules out both a tunnel and bridges with spans that have been built so far. The Norwegians have the same challenge with some fjord crossings (albeit not seismically active).
Another issue is the high wind speeds in the Strait of Messina. It's a funnel, flanked by mountain ranges.
The problem with a tunnel is that the grade cannot be steep for the railroad, so it would require incredibly long approach tunnels to get to -150 meters.
Here's a bathymetric map:
(https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Riccardo-Droghei/publication/309637871/figure/fig1/AS:424328052383744@1478179099183/The-Messina-Strait-and-the-studied-sand-wave-field-a-Bathymetric-map-of-the-Messina.png)
Sounds like the case for floating tunnel which is often discussed technology
A couple of decades ago I was seeing chatter about a potential conventional suspension bridge with a main span that ran between the towers, both of which were to be set on the shores.
Mike
Good video on the bridge from the B1M:
I found the video a bit disappointing to be honest. They could've explained the physical conditions and design challenges in more detail (depth, currents, winds, earthquakes, etc)
Some good news: https://www.worldhighways.com/wh8/news/extra-funding-worth-eu370-million-found-italian-bridge-project
According to this article construction is set to begin this year:
https://www.newsweek.com/world-longest-suspension-bridge-italy-earthquake-2067241
I'll believe it when I see it.
Quote from: Molandfreak on May 05, 2025, 01:28:08 PMI'll believe it when I see it.
In Hell, everything is organized by the Italians...
Quote from: Molandfreak on May 05, 2025, 01:28:08 PMI'll believe it when I see it.
There is even a famous Italian cliché regarding that thought.
Mike
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/08/06/travel/italy-sicily-bridge-strait-of-messina-intl (https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/08/06/travel/italy-sicily-bridge-strait-of-messina-intl)
Italy says the project is a-go! To be finished in 2032, if all goes well.
I hate it when things are under construction… for too long.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 06, 2025, 01:21:44 PMI hate it when things are under construction… for too long.
LOL I guess that was the text code for a dash.
The budget allocated is € 13.5 billion, this will likely make it the most expensive bridge ever constructed.
The timeline:
late 2025: preparatory work
May 2026: begin construction of the access roads and access to the railway network
September 2026: begin construction of tunnels & stations
March 2027: begin construction of the main bridge
2032: opening of the bridge
At least it won't be delayed because custom plazas aren't complete. (Cough, cough, GHIB)
Here's the plan for the bridge. It also involves 40 kilometers of connecting infrastructure, of which the railroad will be over 90% in tunnels.
In the 'defies conventional wisdom' category, the bridge will go north into Sicily. The anchorage on the Sicilian side almost stretches into the Tyrrhenian Sea.
(https://i.imgur.com/gfohbHP.jpeg)
It looks to me that, assuming that this is completed as planned, Messina (the city itself) will become a very sleepy place, indeed. No more need to use the ferry port nor the railway station there.
Mike
Obviously factors like bathymetry and fault lines are at hand, but it's intriguing that this bridge is going to be 5 km shorter than the Mackinac Bridge.
Quote from: Bickendan on August 16, 2025, 06:09:04 PMObviously factors like bathymetry and fault lines are at hand, but it's intriguing that this bridge is going to be 5 km shorter than the Mackinac Bridge.
But unlike the Mackinac Bridge, the Straits of Messina Bridge is proposed to have a shore-to shore main span, pushing the practical limits of conventional suspension span length.
Mike
Bridge piers in waters deeper than 50 feet are fairly uncommon due to cost and engineering challenges. So these are generally avoided if possible. This is also why a colossal single span of 3,300 meters (10,827 ft) has been the preferred solution as far back as 1978.
Other solutions, such as floating submerged tunnels or floating piers for cable-stayed bridges anchored to the seabed have been contemplated for this location, as well as some crossings in Norway, but it has never made it to construction. The offshore industry uses some of these techniques.
The bridge is located in an earthquake zone, Europe's deadliest earthquake occurred just miles from this location in 1908, which caused a tsunami and catastrophic damage in Messina and Reggio Calabria. However unlike 'conventional wisdom', the bridge is not on the boundary of the African and Eurasian plates, which is farther south. Suspension bridges are well-suited to absorb seismic energy.