Thursday,
April 10, 2008
The Sicilian Straits Bridge, 142 years Old,
but Not Built Yet.
The
ANNOTICO Report
The
Straits of Messina have been making waves ever since Ulysses narrowly made it
between the shores of Scylla on the mainland side and Charybdis
on the Sicilian side. According to the Ancient Greek historian Strabo, a Roman
consul returning from the Punic wars with
Shortly
after the birth of modern
After
World War II, the bridge took on new significance: It was to be a technical
marvel that would demonstrate
In
1955, the government formed a public-private company, the Messina Bridge Group,
to study how
During
the terms of Silvio Berlusconi, the former
two-time center-right prime minister, made the Bridge a priority.
However
much I would think that the Bridge would be a boon and a bond,
Additionally,
I'm suspicious of politicians advocating huge projects, because of the great
possibility for bribes, excess profits and overruns.
Thanks to Pat Gabriel
Proposed 142 Years Ago, Plan for Link to
Wall Street Journal
By Gabriel Kahn
April
10, 2008
Shortly
after the birth of modern
It
has been in the planning ever since, and over the years, experts have studied
the bridge's impact on everything from Mediterranean trade to bird migration.
But ground has yet to be broken, making the bridge an emblem of the chronic
indecisiveness that links
Now,
with national elections imminent, the bridge looms as a major campaign issue.
It is dividing the two leading candidates, who have different visions of what
the country needs.
Silvio Berlusconi, the flamboyant billionaire and two-time
center-right prime minister, is determined to build the bridge. He is convinced
that
"Building
this bridge entirely with Italian hands is a matter of national pride,"
Mr. Berlusconi told a campaign rally recently.
His
opponent, bookish former
Mr.
Berlusconi leads in the polls, but
With
a price of nearly 5 billion, or about $7.9 billion, the bridge is an example of
profligate public spending, many say.
In
Costly
Many
argue that with its endless planning, the nonexistent
Yet
those who support linking
To be
sure, nothing at all has been built with that money.
The
Straits of Messina have been making waves ever since Ulysses narrowly made it
between the shores of Scylla on the mainland side and Charybdis
on the Sicilian side. According to the Ancient Greek historian Strabo, a Roman
consul returning from the Punic wars with
In
1866,
After
World War II, the bridge took on new significance: It was to be a technical
marvel that would demonstrate
In
1955, the government formed a public-private company, the Messina Bridge Group,
to study how
The
late marine explorer Jacques Cousteau helped with research. At one point, a
study was commissioned to study the effect of the bridge's shadow on fish. None
was found.
But
26 years later, the Messina Bridge Group was still studying different options.
Some proposed a tunnel. Others wanted a floating tube suspended under the
water. Still others put forward a massive suspension bridge.
So,
in 1981, the government created a new company, Straits of Messina SpA, to pick up where the old one left off. The new company
began hiring engineers and urban planners. By 1992, it unveiled its plan: an
elegant, single-span suspension bridge -- longer than any other at the time --
designed by the since-deceased English engineer William Brown.
That
year, however, a massive political bribery scandal in
The
bridge has had some close scrapes with birth and death. In 2001, Mr.
Berlusconi, then prime minister, decreed the bridge would be built. He called
for bids and chose a contractor. Then he was voted out of office before work
could begin. His successor, Romano Prodi, put a bill
before Parliament that would have killed the project once and for all. The bill
narrowly failed.
Today,
142 years after the first plans were laid, debate over
the bridge is much the same.
Organized
Crime Risk
Environmentalists
are steadfastly opposed. So are ferry operators who fear the bridge would put
them out of work. Others think the project risks being a boon to
"Risk? It's not a risk. It's a sure thing," says
Luigi Croce, the chief prosecutor of
Leandra D'Antone, a history professor at
Nino Calarco was chairman of Straits of Messina SpA for a decade before resigning in frustration in 2001.
"Ulysses was warned about the dangers of this place," Mr. Calarco says.
"I
can see the straits from my house," he says. "There's still no bridge
there. One day there will be, but I'll be dead and buried by then."
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