Italy's Proposal for a Bridge to Sicily

Italy is considering building a $7 billion bridge from Calabria to Sicily across the Strait of Messina. It would be both the largest suspension bridge and tallest bridge in the world, making it a feat of engineering. It could boost the local economies, increase tourism, improve relations between the people of southern Italy, and demonstrate Italy’s engineering prowess. However, it would also come with many budget, engineering, and infrastructure issues. Whether it will ever be constructed, we will have to wait and see.

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Italy is considering building a $7 billion bridge from Calabria to Sicily across the Strait of Messina. It would be both the largest suspension bridge and tallest bridge in the world, making it a feat of engineering. It could boost the local economies, increase tourism, improve relations between the people of southern Italy, and demonstrate Italy’s engineering prowess. However, it would also come with many budget, engineering, and infrastructure issues. Whether it will ever be constructed, we will have to wait and see.

If you enjoyed this video, please consider subscribing for future videos very similar to this one!

If you enjoy Futurology, please consider supporting the channel on Patreon!

Thank you to the following sources:

Info

Audio
Audioblocks

Graphics
Storyblocks
New Historia
AP Archive
Go_Legacy
wallvestor
Epic Life Flashes
Strange Things
francesco carpinelli

[lptxfet]

My Sicilian grandma said that since she was a teenager they have been talking about building this bridge...

[ciaoprando]

Can we appriciate his effort to correctly pronunce italian names and words? Most english speaker would not care and say like "giusepi conti" but he didn't
(Im italian i can confirm)

[stagbeetle]

Italian here. People have been attempting to do this without success for a loooong time now lmao. It's become a literal meme

[simonecarnemolla]

In Sicilian and I’m pretty sure that I’ll never see it while I’m alive... and I’m 17

[andrea]

I'll translate you the numbers in current Italian. 7bilions=14bilions. 6years= 24years.

[francescogiacob]

I live right on the Messina strait and there is a funny story:
Italy spent 26 million euros to build a concrete "dome" over the railroad in Reggio Calabria, in order to protect it from falling material falling from the bridge construction site.
Money well spent i guess...

[fizzynusfuzz]

So basically it’s “let’s do it” and then “ahhh nevermind” over and over again

[keeganharris]

I don’t feel like 7 billion is that crazy since the upgrades on the Oakland bay bridge were around 8.4 billion

[silva]

Italians opening this video:

"Lol"

[totidan]

4:12 It's not a 2 hr ferry process, it takes about 20 minutes if there isn't traffic. I live in Reggio Calabria and I go very often in Sicily.

[TahaAlZadjali]

7 billion Dollors?!

It will cost at least 15 billion by the end of the project.

[franticzenster]

Hannibal: This should've been done in 207 BC.

[youp]

As stated or not stated in terms of money, area roads would have to be improved adding to the expense of the bridge if you think about it

[Rob]

The bridge would encounter some problems:
- earthquakes
- storms
- it would cost a lot of money
but most importantly:
- being in south italy
The latter is the killer problem.

[kernik_]

Guy from Messina here and I just wanna say that the ferry ride is like 25 minutes long or less depending on currents and such

[damianosdamai]

This reminds me of the Rio-Antirrio Bridge in Greece. It pretty much had the same problems: 110 km/h winds, 2.5km span, 65m depth, earthquakes up to 7.5 magnitude and a soft seabed (also ferry owners complaining). And yet it was built in 2004 with a cost of 630 million € (7 billion really seems like a lot considering the two bridges are not that different) and boosted the economy of the region a lot. I really hope it can be built.

[Gentlemonful]

you forgot to mention the biggest issue, calabria and sicily are on two different tectonic plaques and "drive" away from each other every year (i think a few centimeters)

[Solid_Snake]

If we don’t fix the mafia and evasion first, this bridge cannot be done. “Non s’ha da fare” -Manzoni

[tabamon]

From Italy here. I would love to see the bridge since the island of Sicily and the region of Calabria are economically depressed areas. But I am also scared because organized crime uses public projects like these all over Italy as a source of funds, cheaping out on materials for such projects... and in this case that just can't be done without risking too many lives.

[matty]

This bridge is a strategic work
for the sicily and italy, we hope to cross one day