Italy decides to fight “la recessione”

A bridge to Sicily should provide plenty of Italian stimuli

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi

The Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi urged Italians on Friday not to change their lifestyles during the economic crisis. He marked his words by setting aside funds to build a bridge to the island of Sicily.

An expensive project

The amount earmarked for the bridge across the Straits of Messina, a long discussed project, is $1.7 billion. These funds represent about a fifth of the total estimated cost of the project. The idea for a bridge has been around since Roman times and has a long history. The current bridge has been planned as a suspension bridge across a narrow section of water between the eastern tip of Sicily and the southern tip of mainland Italy.

The plans

Construction plans for the bridge have been revived despite years of discussion, preplanning and disagreement. When completed, the bridge will be the largest suspension bridge in the world, almost doubling the main span of the Japanese Akashi-Kaikyo, also known as the Pearl Bridge, which spans 6,532 feet.

Keeping Italians employed

Figures like these are not on the Payday Loan list, but they should keep huge numbers of Italian workmen and engineers occupied for the next 8 years or so, until well after ‘la recessione’ is over and forgotten.

Just look at this bridge!

The Italy – Sicily Bridge by comparison will be over 10,000 feet long and 100 feet wide. The bridge would be supported by two 1,250 foot high columns, each higher than the Empire State Building. There would be six motorway lanes, a railway for up to 200 trains a day and two walkways.

The mafia

Supporters see the bridge as a huge job-creation scheme and a boost for tourism. Opponents say it will be an ecological disaster, vulnerable to high winds, earthquakes and tidal waves, and a boon for the mafia. Berlusconi believes work will be completed by 2016.

We don’t want a change

Berlusconi told reporters after a cabinet meeting in Rome, “Our greatest fear is that people will change their lifestyles just because they’re afraid, and thus worsen the crisis. He added that some people in the media continue to paint this economic crisis as a tragedy, a complete exaggeration, he says.

Italy’s economy

Italy’s economy shrank by the largest amount in more than 25 years in the fourth quarter, and the Bank of Italy said this week that the economy would shrink 2.6 percent this year. The government has set aside large amounts for poor families and for car rebates and incentives to buy energy-saving appliances.

A short history of the bridge

The Romans considered building a bridge joining Calabria and Sicily made of boats and barrels. Charlemagne considered joining the two sides with a series of bridges. This idea was revived by the Norman adventurer Robert Guiscard in the 11th century and by Roger II of Sicily in the 13th century. In 1866, Alfredo Cottrau, an internationally recognized engineer, was appointed to draw up plans for a bridge between Calabria and Sicily. In 1870, Navone came forward with plans for a tunnel based on Napoleon’s idea of a tunnel under the English Channel.

In the 1960s, ideas evolved with everything from submerged tubes to floating struts, pontoons and a revolving central section of the bridge.

In the 1970s, feasibility studies were undertaken by the State Railways.

In the 1980s, the Messina Company concluded that it would be feasible to build a suspension bridge. Detailed plans followed in the 1990s.

Good luck Italy!

Good luck with il ponticello and good luck with the recession.