Italy approves the construction of a bridge to Sicily for 13.5 billion euros

The Italian government on Wednesday, August 6, approved a €13.5 billion project to build the world's longest suspension bridge to connect the island of Sicily with the mainland.

The project of a bridge between Sicily and Calabria (across the Strait of Messina) was envisaged by a 1971 law. The government returned to its implementation in 2022.

"This is a strategic infrastructure for the development of southern Italy and the entire country, which is of paramount national interest for the completion of trans-European transport networks," the statement said.

The government claims that the bridge, which is scheduled to be completed by 2032, is a state-of-the-art engineering achievement, and the bridge is able to withstand strong winds and earthquakes in a region located at the junction of two tectonic plates.

The construction of the bridge will spur economic growth and create thousands of jobs in two of Italy's poorest regions – Sicily and Calabria on the mainland.

The project will create the world's longest single-span bridge at 3,300 meters long, supported by two 399-meter-high piers. It will have three lanes in each direction, including an emergency lane, two service lanes, and two railroad tracks with pedestrian sidewalks.

Transport links will be provided by approximately 40 km of road and rail tracks (80% of which are tunnels).

The bridge will become an important part of the European Union's Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor, a transport artery connecting Northern and Southern Europe to facilitate the transportation of people and goods.

• on June 6, 2025, India opened the world's highest railway bridge across the Chenab River, which connects the Kashmir Valley with the rest of the country. Construction of the bridge began in 2003 and cost $160 million.