Bridge of Messina
Bridge Objections
The Strait of Messina Bridge project is one of the most debated infrastructure works in Italian history. Alongside those who emphasize its economic, employment, and mobility benefits, there are numerous objections, criticisms, and protests raised by citizens, experts, environmentalists, and political observers.
The Concerns of the Opposition
The Messina Bridge is considered a work of extraordinary symbolic and technical importance. While many see it as a tool for revitalizing Southern Italy and integrating Sicily with the continent, critical positions abound. Issues such as environmental impact, construction costs, alternative infrastructure priorities, and economic sustainability have fueled debate for decades. This plurality of opinions makes the project not only an engineering challenge but also an emblematic case of political, social, and cultural confrontation in Italy and Europe.
The following gathers the main doubts related to the realization of the Bridge—from environmental and seismic impact to costs, economic sustainability, and social and territorial aspects—with the aim of providing a clear and documented picture of the public debate.
Costs
Q: Will the overall cost be €13.5 billion?
A: No. The official estimate foresees that the cost of the entire project—bridge and connections included—will not exceed €13.5 billion. The Bridge will cost €5 billion, while motorway and railway links, new stations, additional infrastructure in Messina and Reggio Calabria, compensatory works, and expropriations will amount to €8.5 billion.
Q: Has the Stretto di Messina company cost more than €1 billion without producing anything?
A: From 1981 to 2012, Stretto di Messina S.p.A. carried out extensive analysis and evaluation of project alternatives, selected the technical solution, drafted the preliminary and final projects with 10,000 plans and all legally required approvals, and finally awarded the contract to the Eurolink consortium. The total certified cost of these fundamental preliminary activities amounted to approximately €312 million over three decades.
Q: Was it absurd to spend €300 million just for the project?
A: The design of a unique and unprecedented work such as the Messina Bridge required analysis, tests, trials, top-level designers, and advanced wind tunnel studies. For major infrastructure, design costs typically account for around 10% of the contract’s value. For the Messina Bridge, this percentage was well below 3%.
Q: Italy is in economic difficulty and there are no funds to build it.
A: Italy is experiencing a period of prosperity, and European cohesion and territorial continuity funds for infrastructure amount to about €120 billion every seven years. The country therefore has sufficient resources to support the project, which in any case will yield around €800 million annually and generate an increase in GDP of €23 billion over five years.
Environment
Q: Will the environmental impact be devastating?
A: No. Today, travel to and from Sicily relies on ships and planes, which pollute much more than trains. Even electric ships must produce energy by burning marine fuel: “zero-emission” solutions do not exist.
Q: Will the Bridge ruin the coasts?
A: The pylons on both shores will not be placed on the beach or in the sea. The coasts will remain free, enhanced by walkways, and open to bathing without risks or restrictions.
Q: Will the beautiful Torre Faro be destroyed?
A: Fortunately, no. The Sicilian pylon will be positioned in the Pantano di Margi area, already heavily urbanized with many incomplete houses, and will not affect Torre Faro.
Q: Will the Messina pylon destroy the Ganzirri lakes and will cable anchors be built over the Granatari cemetery, requiring it to be moved?
A: No. The final project, available online, does not include any works either near the lakes of Ganzirri or the cemetery, which will not be affected by the infrastructure.
Q: Will construction sites paralyze the city of Messina for years?
A: The Bridge will not directly affect the urban fabric, developing in the northern area of Ganzirri. The only construction site affecting the city will be for the new underground railway line.
Q: Will the motorway exit in Sicily be far and inconvenient?
A: The interchange will be located between Ganzirri and Granatari and will connect to the many existing motorway links. On the railway side, the new route will pass through a new dedicated station in Viale Europa–Viale Italia and continue to Ganzirri on a newly built railway line.
Opportunities
Q: Sicily has no infrastructure, wouldn’t it be better to invest elsewhere first?
A: The two things are not mutually exclusive. The Bridge and other infrastructures can and must proceed in parallel, as they are not costs but investments that repay the State. In many countries, public works built in depressed areas have generated unimaginable development.
Q: Sicily will not benefit economically from the Bridge.
A: Sicily will reap enormous economic benefits—not only in tourism and employment but also in market positioning. The major commercial port of Augusta will allow goods (including Sicilian products) to be sent and received by rail throughout Italy and Europe, reducing time, costs, and pollution. Even a small portion of this traffic would be enough to significantly increase Sicily’s GDP (currently around €80 billion annually).
Q: It only takes 20 minutes to cross the Strait.
A: This is misleading. The real travel time includes waits, boarding, disembarking, and transfers, which often exceed one hour. The Bridge will provide continuous and rapid crossing, eliminating delays.
Q: The project is useless and uneconomical. Tolls will cost more than the ferries.
A: Forecasts indicate very low tolls of about €7–9. This is a public infrastructure and as such does not need to directly recoup construction costs. That said, tolls are expected to provide around €800 million per year in revenue.
Q: It’s not true that the Bridge will create new jobs.
A: Projections indicate 8,000 direct jobs for 6 years (for a cumulative 48,000 positions employed) plus around 25,000 per year from the induced economy, which over 6 years equals a further 150,000 paychecks.
Critical Issues
Q: They’ll never build the Bridge anyway.
A: That is the wish of those opposed, but the previous stoppages were exclusively political. Without the 2012 halt by the Monti government, the Bridge would already be in service today—and at a significantly lower construction cost.
Q: There’s a risk it will remain an unfinished work.
A: No. There are no unfinished works of this kind. Moreover, the August 2025 contract between the Concessionaire and the Eurolink General Contractor provides for €1 million in penalties for each day of delay beyond the scheduled 2032 delivery.
Q: It would be cheaper to suspend construction than to complete it.
A: False. The construction halt decided in 2012 by the Monti government triggered a legal dispute with WeBuild S.p.A. If construction were suspended again, the company would continue its legal action and, if it prevailed, Italy would have to pay a penalty of about €1.5 billion plus damages, costs, and ten-year revaluation.
Q: The European Union does not support the Bridge’s construction.
A: False. The Messina Bridge lies within TEN-T Corridor No. 1 and is considered strategic for the La Valletta–Palermo–Europe connection.
Q: A strong earthquake could bring the Bridge down.
A: The Messina Bridge has been specifically designed to withstand even a magnitude 7.1 (Richter) earthquake—the maximum historically recorded in the area during the tragic 1908 Messina event.
Q: A tsunami caused by a strong earthquake could bring the Bridge down.
A: The deck stands 72 meters above sea level. Waves of that height have never been recorded; in the unlikely event, a freak wave would pass underneath. The pylons’ deep foundations and slender profile would not be adversely affected by any impact.
Q: Wind will force the Bridge to close for many days each year.
A: That is not correct. Measurements over the last 20 years show the maximum wind speed recorded in the Strait was 150 km/h. Based on this data, the Bridge is designed to withstand about 200 km/h and, thanks to the remarkable deck profile (the so-called “Messina Style”), would remain open, with minimal, imperceptible deflection.
Q: Sicily is drifting away from the mainland, so the Bridge is impossible.
A: The geological drift is irrelevant: at this rate, thanks to steel’s elasticity, it would take 4,000 years before the expansion joints would need to be replaced.