Strait Bridge, CIPESS green light for the final project

"The world is changing on the territories: I'll take one example out of all, there will be the Strait underground. That is, the Ponte construction is less than half the total cost of what is a total restyling of the Messina and Reggio Calabria fronts. There will be three stops on the Messina side, which will connect every day commuter students, workers, engineers, tourists in the metro from one side to the other". This was said by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini at a press conference.

"The contribution to the national GDP will be 23.1 billion, with 36,700 stable jobs and 10.3 billion in tax revenues for the state thanks to the bridge over the Strait of Messina, already in the construction phase of the project". These are the figures emerging from recent economic analyses, announced by the undersecretary, with delegation to the CIPESS, Alessandro Morelli, who clarified: "When fully operational, the economic net present value will be positive by 1.8 billion euro, thanks to shorter transport times and costs, greater logistical efficiency, an increase in tourist flows and a reduction in polluting emissions".

"The decision of the CIPESS to approve the final project of the Strait Bridge marks a decisive moment for the economic and productive system of the country. We are talking about an infrastructural work of European scope, which will finally be able to connect Sicily to the continental logistics network in a stable and modern way. It is a concrete opportunity to strengthen the competitiveness of the South and to close an infrastructural gap that has been affecting growth for too long'. This is how the president of Confindustria, Emanuele Orsini, reached by telephone by Radiocor, commented on today's go-ahead. "The bridge, besides being an innovative project, is also a strategic lever for industry, logistics and employment. Now it is important to develop and connect all the infrastructure contiguous to the bridge both on land and in Sicily, as well as to ensure certain timescales, transparency in construction sites and full involvement of the productive fabric. Italy needs great works to build its future,' Orsini added.

"I have learnt with satisfaction of the go-ahead, by the CIPESS, for the final project of the bridge over the Strait of Messina. A strategic work for our country, unique in its kind, whose realisation, in the coming years, will have positive repercussions on the national economy". Thus the president of Assolombarda, Alvise Biffi. "This great infrastructure will revolutionise connections to and from Sicily, implementing a European transport network and combining the best of international engineering with Italian industrial capacity. I am convinced that Webuild and all the companies involved will be able to contribute to the completion of one of the most ambitious projects in the world, demonstrating, once again, the excellence of Italian expertise. The Bridge over the Strait of Messina will make Italy more united and connected, multiplying, with a domino effect, business opportunities for the entire productive fabric".

"Today Italy once again demonstrates that it knows how to be a team player, with a mega project that is transformative for the entire country. The approval of the Ponte sullo Stretto di Messina project by the CIPESS marks the beginning of a new season of vision, courage and confidence in the capabilities of Italian industry and the entire productive sector of the infrastructure sector," comments Webuild CEO Pietro Salini, following the approval of the Ponte project, the longest suspended bridge in the world, and the vast plan of complementary works designed to enhance mobility between Sicily and the rest of Italy. "We are particularly proud to be part of the Bridge undertaking, strongly desired by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and the Italian Government and supported with commitment by the concessionary company Stretto di Messina, as leader of the general contractor Eurolink, working together with the best engineering skills in the world and with a wide Italian supply chain of excellence, from the South to the North of the country," Salini continued. "The Bridge will set in motion a great infrastructure project spread across many construction sites at work at the same time, a flywheel of growth, employment and legality for the whole of Southern Italy. The work will be equipped with advanced technologies for safety and maintenance and will be built according to the highest international engineering standards. It will also be an extraordinary opportunity for the future of young people. Italian engineering talents, managers and workers in the sector will finally have the chance to engage, at home, on one of the most challenging works in the world'.

The Bridge will be the heart of a large integrated infrastructure system: more than 40 km of new roads and railways, three underground railway stations, a dozen viaducts and numerous tunnels, and a state-of-the-art business centre. These complementary works will have a transformative impact on the mobility of territories that will benefit from massive infrastructure investments. The bridge will join the Palermo-Catania-Messina railway line in Sicily and the future HS/HC Salerno-Reggio Calabria line on the Calabrian side.

From ancient Rome to the present day, bridges have always been accelerators for the economy and development of countries. The Webuild Group has made its contribution to this history, reaching today a record of 1,022 km of bridges and viaducts built: the equivalent of one large bridge connecting Paris with Berlin. The Group has built bridges and viaducts in more than 300 major road and rail projects, the first of which in Italy in 1922, the Recco Viaduct, to the latest projects such as the Second and Third Bosphorus Bridge in Turkey and the Long Beach International Gateway in the United States.

"Today, net of the adjustment to inflation at the date of entry into operation of the bridge, we estimate a basic tariff for cars of less than 10 euros, with significant reductions for frequent trips". This was stated in a note issued by the Stretto di Messina company on the Cipess' approval of the final project for the Strait Bridge. "The precise definition of the tariffs will take place close to the opening to traffic of the Bridge," adds the note, which specifies that the hypothesis of the tariff plan is "significantly lower than the current crossing costs."

Brussels is "examining the documentation received" from Italy on 11 June on the Messina Bridge project in the framework of the Habitats Directive, which protects biodiversity in sites of EU interest, "and will assess in due course whether and how to react". A spokesman for the EU executive tells Ansa. The notification received in June, he said, "includes the environmental impact assessment" required by the legislation, "the overriding reasons of public interest" that would justify the work and "the proposed compensatory measures". On the possible inclusion of the bridge among the dual-use civil-military projects, 'the assessment is up to Rome'.