<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/italy" rel="" target="" title="Italy"><span>Italy</span></a><span> cleared the way on Wednesday to build the world's largest suspension bridge linking the Italian mainland with Sicily in a massive 13.5 billion euro ($24 billion) infrastructure project that has been long delayed by debates over its scale, earthquake threats, environmental impact and the spectre of mafia interference.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Strait of Messina Bridge will be "the biggest infrastructure project in the West," Transport Minister Matteo Salvini told a news conference in Rome, after an interministerial committee with oversight of strategic public investments approved the project.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Salvini cited studies showing the project will create 120,000 jobs a year and accelerate growth in economically lagging southern Italy, as billions more in investments are made in roads and other infrastructure projects accompanying the bridge.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/chikungunya-what-is-the-virus-now-spreading-in-southern-china-explainer/f559f574-f2b8-4bc7-8f5f-8bee35bc9dd4" rel="" target="" title=""><strong><span>What you need to know about chikungunya, the virus now spreading in China</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Preliminary work could begin between late September and early October, once Italy's court of audit signs off, with construction expected to start next year.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Despite bureaucratic delays, the bridge is expected to be completed between 2032-2033, Salvini said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Strait of Messina Bridge has been approved and canceled multiple times since the Italian government first solicited proposals in 1969.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/strait-of-messina-bridge-italy-to-build-worlds-longest-suspension-bridge-connecting-sicily-to-mainland/01de0753-27db-44a7-8cd3-3e3d65e855e0" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Premier Giorgia Meloni's administration revived the project in 2023, and this marks the furthest stage the ambitious project— first envisioned by the Romans — has ever reached.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"From a technical standpoint, it's an absolutely fascinating engineering project,'' Salvini said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Strait of Messina Bridge would measure nearly 3.7 kilometres, with the suspended span reaching 3.3 kilometres, surpassing Turkey's Canakkale Bridge, currently the longest, by 1277 metres.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/british-hiker-hit-with-25k-bill-after-ignoring-trail-warning-signs/ba3c7c26-33c0-4028-ac21-380d3795192b"><strong><span>British hiker hit with $25,000 bill after ignoring trail warning signs</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>With three car lanes in each direction flanked by a double-track railway, the bridge would have the capacity to carry 6000 cars an hour and 200 trains a day — reducing the time to cross the strait by ferry from up to 100 minutes to 10 minutes by car. Trains will also save transit time, Salvini said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The project could provide a boost to Italy's commitment to raise defense spending to 5 per cent of GDP targeted by NATO, as the government has indicated it would classify the bridge as defence-related, helping it to meet a 1.5 per cent security component.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Italy argues that the bridge would form a strategic corridor for rapid troop movements and equipment deployment to NATO's southern flanks, qualifying it as a "security-enhancing infrastructure."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Salvini confirmed the intention to classify the project as dual use, but said that was up to Italy's defence and economic ministers.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A group of more than 600 professors and researchers signed a letter earlier this summer opposing the military classification, noting that such a move would require additional assessments to see if it could withstand military use.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Opponents also say the designation would potentially make the bridge a target.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Environmental groups have lodged complaints with the EU, citing concerns that the project will impact migratory birds, noting that environmental studies had not demonstrated that the project is a public imperative and that any environmental damage would be offset.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The original government decree reactivating the bridge project included language giving the Interior Ministry control over anti-mafia measures.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But Italy's president insisted that the project remain subject to anti-mafia legislation that applies to all large-scale infrastructure projects in Italy out of concerns that the ad-hoc arrangement would weaken controls.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Salvini pledged that keeping organised crime out of the project was top priority, saying it would adhere to the same protocols used for the Expo 2015 World's Fair and the upcoming Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We need to pay attention so that the entire supply chain is impermeable to bad actors,'' he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The project has been awarded to a consortium led by WeBuild, an Italian infrastructure group that initially won the bid to build the bridge in 2006 before it was later cancelled.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>WeBuild constructed the Canakkale Bridge using the engineering model originally devised for the Messina bridge. It includes a wing profile and a deck shape that resembles a fighter jet fuselage with openings to allow wind to pass through the structure, according to WeBuild.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Addressing concerns about building the bridge over the Messina fault, which triggered a deadly quake in 1908, WeBuild has emphasised that suspension bridges are structurally less vulnerable to seismic forces. It noted that such bridges have been built in seismically active areas, including Japan. Turkey and California.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>WeBuild CEO Pietro Salini said in a statement that the Strait of Messina Bridge "will be transformative for the whole country."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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