ROME, August 7, 2025
Italy has officially approved construction of the world’s longest suspension bridge, a €13.5 billion ($15.5 billion) project connecting Sicily to the mainland across the Strait of Messina.
The bridge will span 3.7 kilometers, with a 3.3-kilometer suspended section, surpassing Turkey’s Çanakkale Bridge. It will carry six lanes of traffic and two railway lines, aiming to cut crossing time from over an hour by ferry to 10 minutes by car.
Construction is expected to begin in 2026, pending clearance from the Court of Audit, with completion targeted by 2033.
The government claims the project will stimulate southern Italy’s economy and create up to 120,000 jobs annually. Critics dispute the job numbers and raise concerns over seismic risk, environmental disruption, and potential mafia infiltration.
The bridge has also been controversially classified as defense infrastructure, allowing it to count toward NATO spending targets. Legal and environmental challenges are ongoing.
Originally proposed in 1969, this is the furthest the Messina Bridge project has advanced in over 50 years.
