Latest news with #WeBuild
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Record-breaking bridges: How Italy and China are pushing engineering limits
The future of transportation took shape on two continents this week as Italy and China announced bridges that would redefine what's possible in modern engineering. Italy greenlit a $15.5 billion project to build what would become the world's longest suspension bridge, infrastructure company WeBuild said on Wednesday. Over the weekend, the Chinese state-run People's Daily reported the near-completion of what will be the world's tallest bridge. The Italian project, connecting Sicily to mainland Italy across the Strait of Messina, would stretch nearly 2.3 miles, with its suspended span reaching nearly 2.1 miles. This would surpass the current record holder, Turkey's Canakkale Bridge, by more than half a mile. "Today, Italy has shown once again how it can come together around a mega project that will be transformative for the whole country," Pietro Salini, chief executive of WeBuild, said in a press release. Meanwhile, in China's southwestern Guizhou Province, the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge reached a milestone with the installation of its final steel girder. According to Chinese state television, the bridge will stand at 2,051 feet from deck to river -- roughly twice the height of the Eiffel Tower. Italy's bridge, designed to carry 6,000 cars per hour and 200 trains daily, focuses on connecting a major island to the mainland. China's Huajiang bridge, while completing a crucial expressway link, incorporates ambitious tourist attractions, including what will be the world's highest bungee jump. Both projects face unique challenges, according to the Associated Press. Italy's bridge must contend with seismic risks in the Messina fault region, while China's bridge tackles the extreme engineering demands of spanning one of the world's deepest canyons, the newsgathering service noted. The competition reflects a broader trend in global infrastructure development. While Italy aims to strengthen its connection to Sicily and bolster NATO's capabilities, China has been systematically building the world's highest bridges. China's Guizhou Province alone has more high bridges than all other countries combined, according to The Italian Transport Ministry announced construction on the Messina bridge is expected to begin next year. According to People's Daily China, the Huajiang bridge is now over 98% complete, and is set to open by the end of September in southwest China's Guizhou Province.
Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Times
Sicily split on world's longest suspension bridge to Italian mainland
Italy is to build the world's longest suspension bridge between the mainland and Sicily, shrugging off fears about the area's history of earthquakes and mafia-run construction firms. With a single suspended span of about 3.3km, the Strait of Messina Bridge will exceed the span of Turkey's Canakkale bridge — the record holder — by more than a kilometre, held up by steel cables more than a metre in diameter. Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, said: 'It is not an easy task but we consider it an investment in Italy's present and future, and we like difficult challenges when they make sense.' Priced at €13.5 billion and due for completion in 2032, the bridge will be a 'demonstration of Italy's willpower and technical expertise that is matched by few around the world', Meloni added. Six road traffic lanes and two railway lines will fill the 60m-wide bridge, which will be supported by two 399m-high towers, according to the Italian constructor WeBuild. A bridge over the strait has been an ambition of rulers since Charlemagne. The Italian government has made plans for one since the 1960s and they were championed by prime ministers including Silvio Berlusconi, only to be shelved due to costs and environmental concerns. The approval this week is a boost for Matteo Salvini, the transport minister, deputy prime minister and firebrand, whose career has been overshadowed by Meloni since he joined her coalition in 2022. Opponents of the bridge vowed to continue their legal battle to stop it, citing threats to birds migrating between Europe and Africa and the risk of earthquakes. The Sicilian town of Messina was levelled by a 7.1 magnitude quake in 1908. It was the deadliest earthquake in modern European history, claiming up to 80,000 victims. WeBuild said that suspension bridges 'are the most seismic-reliable structures, since they have a low sensitivity to earthquakes', claiming that was why they are favoured in earthquake hotspots such as California and Japan. Salvini played down allegations that local mafia clans were determined to seize construction deals connected to the bridge. He said: 'If we didn't build a bridge because, as some people say, there is the mafia in Sicily, there is the 'Ndrangheta in Calabria, we wouldn't get anything done.' The bridge and the road and rail links to it would generate 120,000 jobs and boost the struggling economy of southern Italy, he added. Left-wing opposition politicians have claimed the cash could be better spent on schools and hospitals. 'This is a colossal waste of public money and a monument to uselessness and Salvini's propaganda,' Anthony Barbagallo, a Democratic Party MP, said. Salvini responded: 'In the Chinese or US media they will talk about the engineering work on the bridge, while here there are people who view the biggest public work in the West as a problem.' He quipped that the strait had only been crossed twice without a ferry — once by the Roman consul Lucius Metellus, who tied barrels together in 252BC to let more than 100 war elephants cross the waterway, and then by a 15th-century saint, Francis of Paola, who is said to have sailed across on his cloak. Today cars crossing the strait are loaded onto ferries for a journey that can take more than an hour, compared with the 15 minutes it will take to cross the bridge. Trains are split into sections that are run onto tracks on the ferries. Once ashore, they are reassembled before continuing their journey on Sicily, which can take up to three hours, Salvini said. The bridge would end decades of service for ferries, which have been worked hard. Such was the demand for crossings in the 1950s that one vessel scuttled at the end of the Second World War was raised from the seabed and put back into service. It plied the route for another four decades before being retired in 1991.
Sky News
2 days ago
- Business
- Sky News
Italy approves 'world's longest suspension bridge'
Italy's government has approved the construction of what is tipped to become the world's longest suspension bridge. The long-delayed bridge would connect mainland Italy to the island of Sicily, which is currently only reachable via ferry. It is believed the €13.5bn (£11.7bn) project, which became a priority for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government, will help develop the impoverished south of Italy. The Interministerial Committee for Economic Planning and Sustainable Development (CIPESS) gave the final approval to the project at a meeting in Rome, the League party of deputy prime minister and transport minister Matteo Salvini said. It will have a total length of 3.67km (2.3 miles) and a suspended span of 3.3km (2.05 miles) and have two towers, each made entirely of highly resistant steel, standing 399m tall. That's despite concerns over the environmental impacts and the threat of mafia interference. There have also been concerns over such a bridge being built in an earthquake zone. The designers say the bridge's roadway platform, which will sit 72m above the sea, can stand wind speeds of 292km/h (181mph). The project has been awarded to a consortium led by WeBuild, an Italian infrastructure group, which initially won the bid to build the bridge in 2006 before the project was cancelled in 2013. According to the Messina Strait Company overseeing the project, Wednesday's approval will allow the start of preliminary works, including archaeological and geological surveys. The company said the bridge will be completed in 2032.
Zawya
2 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
Idom named lead designer for Riyadh Metro Line 2 extension
Idom, a multinational company providing professional services in consulting, engineering and architecture, said it has been appointed as the lead designer for the newly-awarded extension of Line 2 of the Riyadh Metro, a major milestone in the city's ongoing infrastructure transformation. A specialist in the design and development of rail and transit, metro and light urban transport projects, Idom is part of an international consortium ArRiyadh New Mobility @ Line 2 Extension (ANM@L2E), led by Italian engineering and general contractor group WeBuild. The other consortium partners are leading Indian engineering and construction conglomerate Larsen & Toubro, French multinational rail transport systems manufacturer Alstom and Saudi infrastructure major Nesma & Partners. The Line 2 extension will cover 8.4 km including a 1.3 km elevated section and a 7.1 km underground segment. It will also add five new stations: two elevated and three underground, it stated. According to Idom, the extension will continue from the current King Saud University (KSU) terminus to serve KSU Medical City, KSU West, Diriyah East, Diriyah Central, and ending at Diriyah South. "We are proud to be part of the international consortium ArRiyadh New Mobility @ Line 2 Extension (ANM@L2E)," said a company spokesman. "This achievement is a result of the dedication and excellence of a highly committed team. We extend our deepest gratitude to the professionals whose work has made this possible: Enrique Rico, Elena Varillas, Elena Raya, Miguel Mellado, Guillermo DiGregorio, Patxi Sanchez, Xavier Graas, and Arturo Cabo," he stated. Idom's involvement in this project further strengthens its long-standing partnership with Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC), demonstrated through key contributions to Riyadh's urban development. "Our previous milestones include the design of Abu Bakr Road and Project Management Consultancy for flagship initiatives such as Sport Boulevard (Fase 01), Green Riyadh and Al Urubah Park," said the spokesman. "We are honoured to continue shaping the future of Riyadh's mobility," he added. Copyright 2025 Al Hilal Publishing and Marketing Group Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
9 News
2 days ago
- Business
- 9 News
World's longest suspension bridge to connect Sicily to Italian mainland in $24b project
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here Italy cleared the way on Wednesday to build the world's largest suspension bridge linking the Italian mainland with Sicily in a massive 13.5 billion euro ($24 billion) infrastructure project that has been long delayed by debates over its scale, earthquake threats, environmental impact and the spectre 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. 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. Artist impression of the Strait of Messina Bridge from the Calabrian coast (WeBuild) Preliminary work could begin between late September and early October, once Italy's court of audit signs off, with construction expected to start next year. Despite bureaucratic delays, the bridge is expected to be completed between 2032-2033, Salvini said. The Strait of Messina Bridge has been approved and canceled multiple times since the Italian government first solicited proposals in 1969. Premier Giorgia Meloni's administration revived the project in 2023, and this marks the furthest stage the ambitious project— first envisioned by the Romans — has ever reached. "From a technical standpoint, it's an absolutely fascinating engineering project,'' Salvini said. The Strait of Messina Bridge would measure nearly 3.7 kilometres, with the suspended span reaching 3.3 kilometres, surpassing Turkey's Canakkale Bridge, currently the longest, by 1277 metres. Artist impression of the Strait of Messina Bridge from the Calabrian coast (WeBuild) With three car lanes in each direction flanked by a double-track railway, the bridge would have the capacity to carry 6000 cars an hour and 200 trains a day — reducing the time to cross the strait by ferry from up to 100 minutes to 10 minutes by car. Trains will also save transit time, Salvini said. The project could provide a boost to Italy's commitment to raise defense spending to 5 per cent of GDP targeted by NATO, as the government has indicated it would classify the bridge as defence-related, helping it to meet a 1.5 per cent security component. Italy argues that the bridge would form a strategic corridor for rapid troop movements and equipment deployment to NATO's southern flanks, qualifying it as a "security-enhancing infrastructure." Salvini confirmed the intention to classify the project as dual use, but said that was up to Italy's defence and economic ministers. A group of more than 600 professors and researchers signed a letter earlier this summer opposing the military classification, noting that such a move would require additional assessments to see if it could withstand military use. Opponents also say the designation would potentially make the bridge a target. Environmental groups have lodged complaints with the EU, citing concerns that the project will impact migratory birds, noting that environmental studies had not demonstrated that the project is a public imperative and that any environmental damage would be offset. The original government decree reactivating the bridge project included language giving the Interior Ministry control over anti-mafia measures. But Italy's president insisted that the project remain subject to anti-mafia legislation that applies to all large-scale infrastructure projects in Italy out of concerns that the ad-hoc arrangement would weaken controls. Salvini pledged that keeping organised crime out of the project was top priority, saying it would adhere to the same protocols used for the Expo 2015 World's Fair and the upcoming Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games. "We need to pay attention so that the entire supply chain is impermeable to bad actors,'' he said. The project has been awarded to a consortium led by WeBuild, an Italian infrastructure group that initially won the bid to build the bridge in 2006 before it was later cancelled. WeBuild constructed the Canakkale Bridge using the engineering model originally devised for the Messina bridge. It includes a wing profile and a deck shape that resembles a fighter jet fuselage with openings to allow wind to pass through the structure, according to WeBuild. Addressing concerns about building the bridge over the Messina fault, which triggered a deadly quake in 1908, WeBuild has emphasised that suspension bridges are structurally less vulnerable to seismic forces. It noted that such bridges have been built in seismically active areas, including Japan. Turkey and California. WeBuild CEO Pietro Salini said in a statement that the Strait of Messina Bridge "will be transformative for the whole country." CONTACT US
