Italy’s Building a Bridge to Sicily – 2,000 Years After the Romans Dreamed It Up!
Some ideas just refuse to die. Case in point: the bridge between mainland Italy and Sicily. The Romans were talking about it over 2,000 years ago – back then, their grand plan involved tying together a bunch of boats and barrels to connect the ‘foot’ of Italy to its ‘ball’. Cute, but not exactly durable.
Fast forward a couple of millennia and the dream is still alive – only now, it’s set to be a record-breaker. The Strait of Messina Bridge could finally start construction this year, and when it’s done, it’ll be the longest suspension bridge in the world.
The strait itself isn’t huge – just 3.1km (1.9 miles) between Villa San Giovanni in Calabria and Messina in Sicily – but it’s notorious for tricky currents and choppy waters. The new bridge will swoop right over it in a single span of 3,600 metres, carrying both cars and trains. Oh, and it’s designed to handle monster winds of 186mph and earthquakes up to magnitude 7.5.
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The Italian government gave the project the green light last year, and in October, the builders scored EU funding to cover half of the €25 million design costs for the rail section. Now, according to Reuters, a final sign-off is expected on August 7 – and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has already set aside a cool €13.5 billion.
If all goes to plan, we’ll be driving (or catching a train) straight to Sicily by 2032. Until then? It’s ferries, planes, or those wonderfully odd trains that hitch a ride on a ferry across the strait.
It might have taken 2,000 years, but it looks like one of Europe’s most ambitious travel dreams is finally about to come true.
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