The world’s longest suspension bridge will be completed by 2032, Webuild CEO Pietro Salini said recently.
The estimated cost for the construction of 40 kilometres of road and rail links, three new train stations and the business centre in Calabria is 13.5 billion euros, he said.
Transport Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Salvini, the bridge’s latest and current champion, recently responded to criticism of possible Mob infiltration.
“It will create more than 100,000 jobs according to the company’s estimates and will be the largest anti-mafia operation,” the right-wing League leader said during a conference on the project.
“Because someone says, ‘Don’t build the bridge in Sicily and Calabria because there is the Mafia and the ‘Ndrangheta.’
“It’s crazy. The mafia thrives where there is desperation, where young people have no future and no work,” he continued.
“The bridge will bring work, wealth, beauty, will save tons of CO2 in the air - it will be one of the greenest bridges in the world.”
The project, which was first championed by late three-time ex-PM and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi, has been delayed due to its high cost, environmental concerns and fears of mafia infiltration on both sides of the Strait, by the ‘Ndrangheta in Calabria and Cosa Nostra in Sicily.
The bridge will span over two miles, or 3.2 km, and become by far the world’s longest suspension bridge.
Currently, the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge in Turkey holds the record with a span of 2023 metres (6637 ft).
The project has been tweaked several times, most recently to raise its height so that cruise ships can pass underneath.
ANSA
