In 1969, Italy’s ministry of public works made an international call for ideas on a crossing of the strait. A final solution took shape in 1992 and, 11 years later – in 2003 – a preliminary design was approved. In 2006, a public entity called the Società Stretto di Messina assigned the Eurolink Consortium, of which the Webuild Group is leader, the detailed design and the task of building the bridge. On December 20, 2010, Eurolink submitted plans for the project after a detailed study and analysis of the area. On July 29, 2011, Società Stretto di Messina approved them.

Ground could be broken immediately, meaning construction could start in the coming months. Once the detailed design has been approved, the bridge could be built in a mere six years.

The project foresees the construction of the longest suspension bridge in the world at 3,660 metres, with a span of 3,300 metres. Its deck would be 61 metres wide, while the two towers on the shores would be 399 metres high. The suspension system would consist of two pairs of cables, each 1.26 metres in diametre, stretching for 5,320 metres between the anchor blocks. 

The bridge would have three vehicle lanes in each direction (two for regular traffic, a third for emergencies), and one for a rail. It would be able to support the crossing of six million vehicles and 60,000 trains a year, bringing Sicily’s five million residents closer to the rest of the continent. 

The cost of building the bridge itself will be approximately €4.5 billion.

The cost of the bridge is equal to about 40 percent of the total for the infrastructure network that would accompany it. The remaining 60 percent would be related works such as the upgrading of the road and rail networks in Sicily and Calabria for a cost of circa €5.3 billion. So-called non-functional works related to the bridge like three rail stations in Messina, a central office in Calabria, and preparing the terrain to reduce hydrogeological risks would cost €1.1 billion.

It would create 10,000 direct and indirect jobs already in the first year of construction. More than 100,000 people would potentially be employed, directly and indirectly, during the life of the project, with 300 businesses involved.

The project is expected to boost the national economy by €2.9 billion a year, equal to 0.17 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

The bridge would have the highest structural integrity in the world, able to withstand a quake measuring 7.5 on the Richter Scale.

The deck’s aerodynamic stability, known as the Messina Type Deck, would resist winds of up to 300 kilometres per hour (corresponding to a return period of over 2,000 years). This type of deck has been studied and tested independently by the most authoritative research centres and international laboratories, using various physical models in wind tunnels (Italy, England, Canada, Germany and Denmark). The concept behind a “semi-transparent” aerodynamic deck, studied for Messina, has already been applied to the world’s longest bridges. The structure would allow vehicle traffic during winds of up to 158 kilometres per hour, while the tests that have been conducted would allow for trains passing at 120 kilometres per hour with winds blowing by up to 150 kilometres per hour, and at 60 kilometres per hour with winds at up to 190 kilometres per hour.