Back the Bridge over the Strait of Messina, a theme that has covered the news and discussions of the last half century, essentially since 1971. The government passed a decree on Thursday that dusts off the old project. Compared to the most recent episode which dates back to 2011, when the government, in order to save the public finances, was unable to face those expenses, the condizioni they seem to have changed: there is European funding that could help, even if only partially.
They remain though many topics open: from structural to legal to social and employment issues, not to mention the times for implementation which could be long.
Right now the main actors in the story are the government and the related ministries. But from the point of view of the concrete implementation, a lighthouse is lit on the company that has historically followed and proposed the project: Webuild which is currently being said ready to take up the matter again. The company, world leader in the construction of ultra-highway infrastructure works, which yesterday announced accounts 2022 better than expected, odds this morning a business square 1,92 euros, up by 8,31%. The stock, which gained about 13% in 5 days, has achieved an increase of 38% in the last six months. But let's reconstruct the story.
The decree: the Strait of Messina company is reborn
The Council of Ministers yesterday gave the green light to the decree on the bridge over the Strait of Messina with which “Reborn the Strait of Messina Company which will have a new and more modern governance” says a note from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. They “participate in it Rfi, Anas, the Regions of Sicily and Calabria, as well as, to an extent of no less than 51%, the Ministry of Economy, which exercises the rights of the shareholder in agreement with the Ministry of Infrastructures, to which the latter is assigned the functions of direction, control, technical and operational supervision" says the text adding that "subject to agreements, the text will be available shortly because they are the latest technical insights are necessary”.
In any case, "a solid participation of the MEF and MIT is expected, confirming the importance that the government attributes to the stable connection between Calabria and Sicily", continues MIT. The draft of the decree also states that the board of directors di Ponte di Messina Spa will be made up of five members, two of whom are designated by the Ministry of Economy in agreement with Infrastructures, who respectively hold the office of president and managing director, one member designated by the Calabria Region, one member designated by the Sicily Region and a member designated by Rfi and Anas.
Departure in the summer of 2024. Thirty-year concession
The announcement of work start it could even be relatively short, but then the time to build will be more than a generation long.
Matteo Salvini announced: “We plan to approve the executive project by July 31, 2024 and then start with the work”. There concession, entrusted to the company since the date of revocation of the state of liquidation, “has a duration of thirty years starting from the entry into operation of the work" and "any extensions of the terms for the construction of the work determine corresponding postponements of the duration of the concession".
Webuild said it was ready to restart. But why Webuild?
All eyes are on the Italian company, the former Salvini Impregilo, which has always been associated with the events of the strait. In fact, the companies (lead company Impregilo) that were part of the Eurolink consortium, which in 2005 won the tender called by the State, for the General Contractor, i.e. the general contractor who was supposed to design and build the stable link between Sicily and Calabria.
The project blocked by the Monti government is reborn
That project was then blocked in the moment of greatest tension for the state accounts, when the Monti government he intervened to contain and block ongoing expenses: the bridge over the Strait was precisely one of those expenses that could not be faced at the time.
The draft provision being examined by the Government revives that 2011 project and puts the procurement contracts canceled by the Monti government back on track with decree law 179 of 2012, with the exception of services relating to environmental monitoring. “The contracts stipulated by the concessionary company, which were terminated pursuant to article 34-decies, paragraph 3, of the decree-law of 18 October 2012, n. 179, converted, with amendments, by law no. 17 of 2012 December 221, resume producing their effects starting from the resolution approving the final project”, reads the draft decree. “In practice, we start again from the final 2011 project which will be adapted to the new technical, safety and environmental standards. The new authorization process will have to stamp the cable-stayed bridge longest in the world (3,2 km), which will represent the flagship of the Italian engineering art” continues the note from MIT.
Lawsuits still open
Due to the cancellation of the contract, Webuild resorted to street legal claiming damages for an amount close to one billion euros, according to well-informed sources. An amount that the government has never paid so far, but that it may no longer have to pay if the Bridge-dossier were to be reopened by Weuid. In fact, in the draft of the decree there is a passage in this regard: "the agreements of the contract will be reactivated with the signing of additional documents, which will entail the waiver of any dispute on the cancellation of the agreements of the decree 179/2012".
Salini: it will take six years to build it
To build the bridge over the Strait of Messina it would take six years” said the CEO of Webuild, Pietro Salini, in the summer of last year on Tg2. “I think this is a challenge that Italy cannot lose because it is an international showcase of such a dimension that we cannot afford not to have. It is the challenge that the country launches to the rest of the world to show its technology, its ability to make things". Massimo Ferrari, who of Webuild is the "general manager corporate and finance" had recently said: "The construction of the bridge over the Strait was entrusted to our Group many years ago, after 30 years of analyzes and evaluations of all kinds, and a international tender that we won. It was later decided not to start the works, but investing in high-speed rail up to Palermo makes no sense without the bridge. It is in the country's interest to invest in sectors such as infrastructure for sustainable mobility. We recall that the infrastructure has a multiplier effect very high, greater than 1,3. He is able to create occupation and stimulate the growth economic. Many kilometers of railway are being planned in Sicily, so the bridge would be their natural extension towards Calabria and northern Italy".
The characteristics of the project and the opinions of seismologists
The bridge over the Strait of Messina has only one span 3,3 kilometers. But one of the most important issues to analyze is that the strait is one Seismic zone. According to geologists, the shores of Sicily and Calabria are moving apart each year of 4-10 millimeters. La Stampa explains today that i pylons they will have to be tall up to 400 metersie the single span suspension bridge project should necessarily be built far from both Messina and Reggio Calabria, because it must be built in the least extensive point of the Strait. Also on the days of strong wind, quite a few, the bridge would not be passable.
Other theme: the foundations of the pillars, which they would have cubes of almost a hundred meters on each side, have uncertainties about temperature which are generated during the setting of the concrete. With consequences on the results of the grip.
La alternative solution to build an even longer suspension bridge connecting the two cities and with three spans is more recent. But according to critics it would generate static problems. Because those slopes don't appear to be geologically stable. The 2011 project that the government wants to restart provides for a road and rail link that will be adapted, says the decree, to the new technical, safety and environmental standards.
Find resources. From the EU only an art
The knot of the remains necessary funding. The government is working to find resources, in recent days Salvini has discussed it, among others, with the top of the European Investment Bank. The wording "unless agreed" used for the provision, according to what is learned, would have been inserted to continue studying a solution to the findings formulated by some ministerial technicians. The latter would, for example, have pointed out how using the already existing company – which has been in liquidation for 10 years – could conflict with the EU regulations on the competition. Thus putting a risk the possibility of using funds Pnrr and community for the work.
How profitable could the completed work be?
Then there are the maths to do profitability of the work. They currently pass between the ports of the two shores 10 million people a year. THE cars are 1,4 million and heavy vehicles 800 thousand. Approximately 100 trips are made annually between ferries, ships and hydrofoils. According to some there is a real risk that local traffic will continue to use the ferries. A study on the repercussions in Sicily by the Region of the Prometeia Institute calculates a cost of 6,54 billion euros, equal to 7,4% of the Sicilian GDP. The estimate of the costs of the bridge, on the other hand, ranges from 4 to 7,1 billion.
To make it profitable, the transit of passengers and goods should be increased, bringing high-speed trains across the Strait. But the Pnrr between now and 2026, it finances only about thirty kilometers of fast line from Battipaglia to Romagnano. In practice, Brussels is ready to finance the first feasibility phase, faced with "a solid project". Italy will have to take care of the rest.
