Japanese engineering firm IHI secured a contract to help plan Italy’s long-delayed Strait of Messina Bridge, a €10.6 billion ($12.3 billion) suspension span that would become the world’s longest if completed.
The Tokyo-based company will join the Eurolink consortium led by Italy’s Webuild and Spain’s Sacyr to construct the 3,300-meter suspended bridge connecting Sicily to the mainland. Italy’s infrastructure committee approved the project Wednesday after decades of political delays and cancellations.
IHI brings suspension bridge expertise from projects including Japan’s Akashi Kaikyō Bridge and Turkey’s Osman Gazi Bridge. The company holds a minority stake in the consortium, with Webuild leading and Sacyr controlling 22.4% of the partnership.
The ambitious project faces familiar skepticism. Environmental groups cite concerns about migratory bird routes, while seismic risks remain contentious given the 1908 earthquake that devastated the region. Previous iterations of the bridge plan have been approved and scrapped multiple times since 1969.
Construction would begin this year with completion targeted for 2032, according to consortium officials. The bridge would accommodate six vehicle lanes and two railway tracks, potentially carrying 6,000 cars hourly and 200 trains daily.
For IHI, the contract represents another international infrastructure win as Japan’s engineering firms expand their global footprint in major construction projects.
