Messina Crossing, Italy

Sector: Pell Frischmann Brown Beech

Cost: Confidential

Client: Stretto di Messina SpA

Location: Italy

Project Details

The Messina Crossing joins the island of Sicily to mainland Italy. The proposed bridge is designed to carry road and rail and will replace the existing ferries. Messina is a suspension bridge which when completed will be the longest suspension bridge in the world, with a main span of 3,300m. We were responsible for the concept design of the bridge.

The deck consists of three longitudinal steel boxes which are aerodynamically shaped and supported by twin pairs of steel parallel wire cables. The cables pass over steel towers and have gravity mass concrete anchorages. The Straits of Messina between Sicily and mainland Italy are over 3,000m across and the water depth is over 70m deep. There are strong currents and the area has a high seismic risk. Many different designs have been put forward over the years but it was not until 1989 that viable and economic solutions could be proposed. This followed the inception of the aerodynamic box deck for the Severn Bridge and research carried out subsequently on the aerodynamic stability of the vented deck. The designer worked with Dr W C Brown, generally thought of as the "father of the bridge", to develop the concept for the deck structure which enabled the bridge to cross the straits in a single span. An in-house wind tunnel was also used to evaluate concepts, together with advanced computer techniques to develop the design. This design was authorized and used for the eventual tender in 1994. Additional innovative design work was prepared for the other elements of the bridge including the steel towers, cable saddles and the anchorages.