# Longest bridge in the world: green light (Italy)



## heavyzakura334

October 13 2005 at 01:21AM 

By Rachel Sanderson

Rome - A centuries-old project to link mainland Italy to the island of Sicily took a major step forward yesterday when an international consortium won a multi-billion-euro contract to build a bridge connecting them. 

It will be the longest suspension bridge in the world, with a central span of 3,3km, nearly three times longer than San Francisco's Golden Gate. Its two towers will be 383m high - taller than the Eiffel Tower.

The Italian state-run company in charge announced that a consortium led by Italian firm Impregilo had been awarded the €3,88-billion contract.

This was a 12 percent discount on the €4.4-billion provisional price tag the government had pinned on the most complex engineering job in Italian history.

Building is due to begin next year and is due to finish in 2012, but critics doubt whether cash-strapped Italy will ever complete the mega-project.

Italy's Green Party said the bridge would be an eyesore and act as "a Trojan horse for the Mafia", drawing mobsters from all over Italy.

Premier Silvio Berlusconi championed it during his 2001 election campaign and has argued that the bridge is vital for Italy's impoverished south, which suffers a high unemployment rate.

Opponents say the money would be better spent improving roads, railways, schools and hospitals in the south.

The idea of linking the toe of Italy to Sicily was first mooted in Roman times. At present, travellers have to take a ferry to cross the straights - a trip which can take two hours.

The 60-metre wide bridge would have 10 lanes for cars, trains and emergency vehicles, and will be able to handle 6 000 cars an hour and 200 trains a day.

Supporters say it will substantially increase commercial and tourism traffic through southern Italy and into Sicily, boosting the island's economy.

Environmentalists say the bridge is potentially hazardous, given that it lies in an active earthquake zone.

Messina, the main city on the Sicilian side of the straits, was destroyed by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake in 1908 that killed some 87 000 people. 

Architects say the structure would be able to withstand an earthquake of more than 7.1.

The entire bridge, including supporting cables, would weigh some 300 000 tons.

Engineers said tests showed the bridge would withstand a bomb attack or the impact of a plane crash into one or more of its supporting cables.

The consortium also includes a Japanese and a Spanish company as well as small Italian firms. - Reuters


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## Þróndeimr

Great news, and renderings?


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## mtb_nz

wow that will be a massive bridge... anyone have any renders?


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## Capzilla

So that's where my taxes went...


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## Balikbayan

Earthquakes and suspension bridges do peacefully co-exist. The 7 Richter Scale Kobe earthquake was not a problem for the Akashi Kaikyo Ohashi, presently the worlds longest single-span bridge. Also, while there was considerable damage to the Oakland bridge and McArthur Freeway during the last 'quake there, no damage sustained by the suspension spans of this bridge or the Golden Gate bridge.


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## Bahraini Spirit

Should be very interesting, I've passed through the sea which seperates Sicily and mainland Italy, can imagine how this one would look like, really cool.


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## 909

Don't know if this is the final design, but here are some drawings:





































Sorry, they are not that small...

More pics: http://www.tu-berlin.de/presse/doku/stretto_di_messina/


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## NavyBlue

heavyzakura334 said:


> The 60-metre wide bridge would have 10 lanes for cars, trains and emergency vehicles, and will be able to handle 6 000 cars an hour and 200 trains a day.


Would this make it the widest bridge in the world?


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## CborG

I can only see 2x2 lanes + 2 emergencylanes, great brigde though!


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## Van der Rohe

AMAZING!!!


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## fahed

Amazing! I hope it gets built without the interfere of the opponents


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## Dubai-Lover

wow
amazing project
383m pilons 

just a question: is there such a high demand for a bridge of these dimensions for the traffic between sicily and italy, which can justify an investment of this scale?


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## fabrik

Dubai-Lover said:


> just a question: is there such a high demand for a bridge of these dimensions for the traffic between sicily and italy, which can justify an investment of this scale?



There isn't..


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## Ellatur

AWWWWWWWWEsome! great news 
question: isn't it dangerous for such a big building to be built in such an earthquake zone?


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## malec

I thought the longest bridge was somewhere in China and it is 30-something km in length.


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## SHOCK TREATMENT

It's the longest suspension bridge but not the longest bridge in the world full stop, there are several bridges that can match this for size including the Second Severn Crossing completed in 1996 and linking England and Wales across the Severn Estuary



















The proposed Morecambe Bay Bridge will dwarf the Severn Bridge and will be a lot bigger than the Italian Bridge.

Other big Bridges in the UK include -:

The Humber Bridge


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## Phobos

Impressive project


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## Dubai-Lover

malec said:


> I thought the longest bridge was somewhere in China and it is 30-something km in length.



the thread title is wrong
it's the bridge with the longest span between the pilons/towers

title of the longest bridge is boring
the crown discipline is the span between 2 pilons/towers, which in this case is almost a world wonder.


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## Rhoy

*Technical Project * 
• 3.300 metres - length of the central span 
• 3.666 metres - the total length 
• 60,4 metres - width of the suspended deck 
• 382,60 metres - total height of the towers 
• 2 pairs of suspension cables 
• 5.300 metres long with a diameter of 1,24 metres - dimensions of the cables 
• 44.352 wires for each cable 
• 65 metres high by 600 wide - the minimum central navigable clearance 

*Road and rail capacity * 
• 6 driving lanes, 3 for each direction (1 fast, 1 normal, 1 emergency) 
• 2 service lanes 
• 2 rail tracks 
• 6.000 vehicles/hour and 200 trains/day - the theorical traffic capacity 

*Records * 
• 3.300 metres length of the central span - 1991 metres Akashi Bridge (Japan) 
• 60,4 metres width of the suspended deck- 41 metres Tsing Ma Bridge (Hong Kong) 
• 382,60 metres height of the towers- 297 metres Akashi Bridge (Japan) 
• 4 cables - suspension system- 2 Akashi Bridge (Japan) 
• 1,24 metres diameter of suspension cables- 1,12 metres Akashi Bridge (Japan) 
• 44.352 wires for each steel cable- 36.830 Akashi Bridge (Japan)


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## UnitedPakistan

Intresting!

Pakistan is also trying to make one of the longest bridges! 

From Karachi to Bundle Island


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