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Messina Bridge


The Strait of Messina Bridge is a long-planned suspension bridge across the Strait of Messina, a narrow section of water between the eastern tip of Sicily and the southern tip of mainland Italy, specifically between north Messina's Torre Faro and Villa San Giovanni. In 2006, under Prime Minister Romano Prodi, the project was cancelled. However, on 6 March 2009, as part of a massive new public works programme, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government announced that construction of the Messina Bridge would indeed go ahead, pledging €1.3 billion as a contribution to the bridge's total cost, estimated at €6.1 billion. The bridge would have been the longest suspension bridge in the world, almost doubling the main span of the Akashi-Kaikyo in Japan. The bridge would have been part of the Line 1 of Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T). Citing budget constraints, the project was cancelled again on 26 February 2013, by Prime Minister Mario Monti's government.

The Strait of Messina is a funnel-shaped arm of sea that connects the Ionian Sea in the south to the Tyrrhenian Sea to the north. The width of the strait varies from a maximum of approximately 16 km (9.9 miles) (between Capo d'Alì in Sicily and Punta Pellaro in Calabria) to a minimum of approximately 3 km (1.9 miles) between Capo Peloro in Sicily and Torre Cavallo in Calabria. A similar distance separates Pezzo and Ganzirri; at that point, the strait is only 72 m (236 ft) deep, while in other places it can reach 200 m (660 ft) deep. It is also characterised by strong currents.


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