The Strait of Messina Bridge - The longest suspension Bridge in the world (3300m)

[Deadeye]

press release
12/10/2005

PRESS RELEASE

IMPREGILO GENERAL CONTRACTOR FOR STRAITS OF MESSINA BRIDGE
IMPREGILO GROUPING WINS BID WITH A TENDER FOR 3.88 BILLION EURO.


Impregilo S.p.A., Italy’s leading infrastructure constructor, has been awarded the top score on its tender for the construction of the bridge over the Straits of Messina, the contract-awarder announced today.

Impregilo S.p.A. will therefore act as General Contractor for construction of the bridge; it holds a 45% share in the vehicle formed for the project, whose other investors are Sacyr SA (18.70%), Società Italiana Condotte (15%), Cooperativa CMC (13%), Ishikawajma-Harima Heavy Industries Co. (6.30%) and Aci Consorzio Stabile of the Gavio group (2%). The project engineer is Cowi. The General Contractor has arranged a pre-financing for an amount equivalent to 15% of the project with Banca Intesa, CARIGE, Banca Popolare Italiana.

The contract was awarded on a 3.88 billion euro tender, a reduction of 12.33% on the basic bid price of 4.43 billion euro; construction will be completed within a maximum timeframe of 70 months.

The bid was drawn up after extensive analysis over the last 12 months by Impregilo, together with the engineering and research units of the other companies in the grouping and with Cowi, during which all project components, construction technologies and methods were examined and assessed; based on their analysis, the grouping were able to formulate a cost-effective bid with an outstanding technical content.

The members of the Impregilo grouping boast significant experience in this type of construction project; more specifically, Impregilo built the second suspension bridge over the Bosphorus in Turkey, for a length of 1087 m; Cowi engineered the Storebealt bridge linking Denmark and Sweden, while Japan’s IHI was lead company on the construction of the Akashi Kaikyo, the world’s longest suspension bridge.

With a length of 3,666 metres, the bridge over the Straits of Messina will be the longest bridge in the world, with a central span of 3,300 metres and a deck of 60.4 metres. The bridge will feature six traffic lanes, two service lanes and two railway lines.

“We are very proud to have been awarded this important contract for a project that will represent the state-of-the-art in Europe and worldwide,” said Impregilo S.p.A. Chief Executive Officer Alberto Lina.

“I believe that the decisive element was our detailed project analysis,” commented Alberto Rubegni, head of Engineering & Construction at Impregilo. “This involved development of special assembly techniques on all technical, planning and construction components, with the result that we were able to present a highly competitive bid.”

“The award of this contract is the outcome of an extremely complex team effort that began in 2002 and involved 130 people from all the companies in the grouping, together with the specialists at Denmark’s COWI and the scientists of the IHI research centres in Japan,” added Alberto Lina.

Impregilo is the constructor of some of Europe’s and the world’s most important infrastructures. Current general contractor projects in Italy include the Milan-Turin and Bologna-Florence high-speed railways, the Mestre Orbital, the Salerno-Reggio Calabria motorway, the Monte Bianco-Aosta motorway and the Genoa and Naples underground railways. Abroad, Impregilo is working on the St Gothard railway tunnel in Switzerland, the Caracas-Tuy Medio and Puerto Cabello-Encrujiada railways in Venezuela, the Athens underground, the Karahnjukar dam in Iceland and the Mazar dam in Ecuador, and the Portland tunnel in the USA.







All Bridge-related figures



Designers
• more than 100 internationally outstanding professionals and engineers
• 12 National and foreign Scientific and University Institutes
• 39 National and foreign Companies and Associations

Technical Project
• 3.300 metres - length of the central span
• 3.666 metres - the total length
• 60,4 metres - width of the suspended deck
• 382,60 metres - total height of the towers
• 2 pairs of suspension cables
• 5.300 metres long with a diameter of 1,24 metres - dimensions of the cables
• 44.352 wires for each cable
• 65 metres high by 600 wide - the minimum central navigable clearance

Road and rail capacity
• 6 driving lanes, 3 for each direction (1 fast, 1 normal, 1 emergency)
• 2 service lanes
• 2 rail tracks
• 6.000 vehicles/hour and 200 trains/day - the theorical traffic capacity

[heavyzakura334]

good, news, I found this article and posted it in the italian page already

[Mac]

Italy is bankrupt, how can it afford to build this?....is it a private venture?.

[Arpels]

great party Deadeye, congrats for thys beauty!!

[Falcon83]

Originally Posted by Mac

Italy is bankrupt, how can it afford to build this?....is it a private venture?.

Do you read "The Economist"?

[mikebond]

Originally Posted by Mac

Italy is bankrupt, how can it afford to build this?....is it a private venture?.

The bridge will be built in "project financing", that is the constructor finances it, not the government.
Anyway, Italy is not bankrupt. Eurostat has just shown our growth is higher than in the other countries of Eurozone.

[CULWULLA]

wow worlds tallest bridge towers! 383m. impressive
thanks

[Arpels]

383 mt?

[Deadeye]

Two satellite pictures of the strait of messina:

[j4893k]

That's amazing. The white looks awesome.

[Bitxofo]

Great and beautiful!!

[Giorgio]

Well, if Greece is going to loose the title, im so glad its to Beautiful Italy!
So too our 'neighbours' -

Ps: It looks like its too big to support itself. Is it possible to have only the 2 pylons? I'm shocked!

[crazyevildude]

What title is Greece Losing?

[JohnnyMass]

I'm wondering the same...Great Bridge though, I hope Italy builds it!

[Phlip]

It's Japan that loses the title for longest span bridge when this is built, isn't it?

[Fern]

Originally Posted by .::G!oRgOs::.

Well, if Greece is going to loose the title, im so glad its to Beautiful Italy!

Impressive structure, but hopefully Lisbon's new bridge will be even more impressive!

[Justme]

Came across this comparison with the wonderful Golden Gate, thought I should post it here:

[Donovan]

^ So the bridge doesn't really have a "Deck" but rather 3 seperate roadways. Cool !!!!

Can't believe it's will be more than twice as long as the Golden Gate Bridge, and Golden Gate was already very big and impressive.

[IDigFla85]

Fern,
Apologize for the ignorance, but I was unaware of a new bridge in Lisbon? How big and when will construction start?

[Falcon83]

Environmentalists on Thursday issued a fresh plea to the government to halt construction plans for a bridge between Italy and Sicily .

Speaking ahead of a major demonstration against the Messina Bridge this weekend, the World Wide Fund for Nature said a new environmental study was needed following a reclassification of the area's status .

Large swathes of land affected by the scheme at both ends of the bridge in Calabria and Sicily, were recently granted special EU protected status owing to their unique bird and wildlife populations .

"This means there has been a radical change in conditions since the first environmental study on which the project was based," said Anna Giordano, the WWF's Sicily spokesperson .

Alberto Ziparo, who coordinated initial government-commissioned research into the bridge's potential impact, agreed that the latest development made it impossible to push ahead with the project as planned .

"The enlargement of the EU protected zone to the entire area affected by the project completely nullifies the assessments carried out so far," explained Ziparo, a professor at Florence University .

"The study must be substantially redone, current procedures scrapped and all further action put on hold" .

Meanwhile, Italy's largest trade union, CGIL, has announced it will also be joining Sunday's demonstration against the bridge .

"The impact of 40 kilometres of ring-roads, 20 main roads and 20 railways in one of the country's most sensitive areas would seriously compromise the environment and landscape," a statement by the union read .

The reclassification in the area's status followed a string of warnings from the EU over local authorities' failure to protect local wildlife .

A headland rich in bird and animal life lies very close to the Sicilian end of the bridge, and the EU refused to release its 20% chunk of the bridge's estimated 6.5 billion-euro price tag without further environmental guarantees .

Earlier this month, Sicilian and Calabrian authorities announced the contested areas had finally been brought in line with EU standards .

However, environmentalists also say the development will threaten large areas of countryside on both sides of the strait and will be unsafe in an area at high risk of earthquakes .

In addition, the project has been dogged by concerns over its safety and fears of potential Mafia involvement ever since it was unveiled in 1996 .

A consortium led by major engineering group Impregilo was recently chosen to build the bridge .

But Rome prosecutors opened an investigation into the bidding process after wiretaps appeared to indicate Impregilo had the job wrapped up ahead of time .

Separately, prosecutors are investigating evidence that a huge international Mafia ring was trying to get many of the lucrative contracts attached to the bridge .

However, the centre-right government believes the project will help lift southern Italy and Sicily out of the economic doldrums that have plagued the region for decades .

Dismissing fears of Mafia infiltration and environmental damage, Premier Silvio Berlusconi recently stressed the economic benefits the bridge would bring Sicily, helping make the huge island "100% Italian" .

He said the construction site alone would bring thousands of tourists to the island, drawn by the prospect of seeing the world's longest suspension bridge going up .

"It'll be like a huge cinema set," the premier told local journalists .

As for its immediate economic impact, Berlusconi said it would provide work for 15,000 people in Messina alone .

The Messina Bridge, which will replace slow ferry services, is the grandest part of Berlusconi's public works programme .

Work on the bridge is scheduled to begin this year and end by 2012 .

It will be 3,690 metres long - although the entire length of the construction could reach 5,070 metres. It is expected to be able to handle 4,500 cars an hour and 200 trains a day .