THE long-running project to build a new road and rail bridge across the Strait of Messina between Sicily and the Italian mainland has officially entered the implementation phase, following approval of the final design by the Interministerial Committee for Economic Planning and Sustainable Development (CIPESS).
This follows the signing of an addendum worth €10.6bn between concessionaire Stretto di Messina, responsible for financing, building and operating the new bridge, and general contractor Eurolink.
Eurolink is led by construction and civil engineering company Webuild, and its other Italian members are Condotte and Itinera. Sacyr of Spain and Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (IHI) of Japan are also members, and the new bridge has been designed by Cowi of Denmark.
The deck of the new bridge will be 3.6km long, with a central suspended span of 3.3km that will make it the longest suspension bridge in the world. The deck will be 60m wide with a total of six vehicle lanes and two tracks, plus two service lanes.
It will be able to accommodate up to 200 trains a day, including two 750m-long freight trains on each track or two passenger trains crossing each other on the bridge. ETCS Level 2 signalling and a derailment detection system will be installed, and the new fixed link will form part of the Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor of the European Union’s (EU) Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T).
The new bridge has been designed to withstand earthquakes with a magnitude of up to 7.1 on the Richter scale, according to Stretto di Messina, and winds up to 216km/h. It will be fitted with an intelligent monitoring system to ensure safety and enable predictive maintenance, according to Webuild.
New lines
The project also includes 20.2km of new lines to connect the bridge to the conventional and high-speed networks. A total of 2.7km will be built in Calabria, of which 84% will be in tunnel and 2% on viaduct, including a connection with the Salerno - Reggio Calabria high-speed line, now under construction.
In Sicily, there will be 17.5km of new railway, 93% in tunnel and 2% on viaduct, connecting the bridge to the lines from Messina to Catania and Palermo. Three new underground stations will be built in Messina at Papardo, Annunziata, and Europa, which combined with stations at Villa San Giovanni, Reggio Calabria and Messina on the mainland will enable a regional network to be created to serve a catchment area with a population of over 400,000.
Preliminary works are expected to begin later this year, with main works to be undertaken in three parallel phases:
- Phase 1: road and rail connections, due to start in May 2026
- Phase 2: tunnels and three new stations, September 2026, and
- Phase 3: bridge construction, March 2027.
Completion is scheduled for 2032. Total project cost is €13.5bn, which Stretto di Messina says will be entirely covered by resources already allocated in the 2024 state budget, and provided in 2023 by the Ministry of Economy and Finance by means of a capital increase.
“The launch of a major public transport infrastructure project is an extraordinary opportunity for our country," says Giuseppe Recchi, president of Stretto di Messina.
“The Strait of Messina bridge will be a national laboratory capable of developing expertise, consolidating best practice, attracting investment and talent.”
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