MILAN (AP) — Italy cleared the way Wednesday to build the world’s largest suspension bridge linking the Italian mainland with Sicily in a massive 13.5 billion euro ($15.5 billion) infrastructure project that has been long delayed by debates over its scale, earthquake threats, environmental impact and the specter of mafia interference.
The Strait of Messina Bridge will be “the biggest infrastructure project in the West,” Transport Minister Matteo Salvini told a news conference in Rome, after an interministerial committee with oversight of strategic public investments approved the project.
Premier Giorgia Meloni said that the bridge “will be an engineering symbol of global significance.’’
Salvini cited studies showing the project will create 120,000 jobs a year and accelerate growth in economically lagging southern Italy, as billions more in investments are made in roads and other infrastructure projects accompanying the bridge.
He’s right Berlusconi promised to make this bridge for his whole political life, he spent billions of public money to research for possibilities on how to make the bridge and all expert said it would be an ecological and humanitarian disaster that won’t last if made. The most optimistic engineer proposed to make a tunnel like the one in the English channel