Slashdot Mirror
Sicilian Suspension Bridge to Go Ahead
SpanningTheGap writes "According to the BBC, Italy plans on building a suspension bridge connecting the Italian mainland with the island of Sicily. The bridge will be five kilometers long and its central span will be over three kilometers long, easily breaking the old record length for a suspension bridge. The artist's conception image of the monster is a sight to see. Another article with more info can be found here." There's a website with assorted technical info about the design.
If this is so controverial, Why don't they just build a chunnel instead?
Seemed to work for the English Channel.
9 *miles* long, with 3 towers, each almost twice the height of the CN Tower. Crazy!
Well, call me idealistic, but surely the building of the bridge itself will bring jobs to the area in the short term, and allow greater communication/commuting possibilities for Sicilian residents when completed?
This, therefore, will bring in wealth to the area - and hopefully the improvements that are needed will follow suit. However, the decision to fund this project through the use of tolls may impact on its success, at least from the Sicilian side.
Their driving sure does appear crazy to Americans--I should know, having lived in Italy. I saw one accident in five months. They drive faster and more agressively than Americans, but they also drive more competently. Driving is a right in America, but a privilege in Europe. Europeans who can not drive competently are not given licenses.
That said, I think this bridge will face more danger from seismic and terrorist [le rosse, etc...] activity than commuters.
"What is the sound of one belly slapping?"
I saw a documentary on bridges on the History channel and they were talking about the current #1 bridge (in Kobe, Japan) and they said that it's so long, that the main towards that hold the suspension cables are not parallel. The tops point out, away from each other significantly DUE TO THE CURVATURE OF THE EARTH! Sweet.
Man, this Sicillian bridge will curve even more than that!
Suspension bridges hold up better than any other type of bridge which is why are found all over the west coast and in Japan. They say the Golden Gate Bridge swayed up to 8 feet during the 7.1 Loma Prieta earthquake and was well within it's design tolerances. The weakest part of the bridge are the approaches which are cantilevered. Those sections are being retrofitted right now a cost of several hundred million dollars so that they can withstand an 8.0 earthquake.
The longest suspension brigde in the US, and what looks to be the thrid longest span in the world (4th if you count this new italian bridge) is currently being built in Charleston, SC. The span will be 1546ft, with the total bridge coming in at about 2.5mi. Check out some info on it here.
The world moves for love. It kneels before it in awe.
I dunno, it seems like large engineering projects like this present an easy target for terrorists.
Not that this should deter us from undertaking such project, just that security concerns should help dictate their design. The chunnel, for example, is already pretty well protected from external attack by the rock it was built into. Suspension bridges are much more difficult to guard.
Just a thought.
"It is our blasphemy which has made us great, and will sustain us, and which the gods secretly admire in us." - Zelazny
In America, you study a book and take a written exam and a driving test to get a license. In Italy, you attend a year of driving school where you learn a LOT about cars and how to drive them. The school costs about $2000 which can be overwhelming when you consider the avreage Italian makes less than $25000/year, and pays about 35% income tax in addition to a 20% sales tax on all consumer items.
As a 25yo American in Italy, I knew a lot of people my age who were not able to afford a car, much less a license. On top of that, gas was about $4/gallon, maybe more. In America, driving is really a right, even if the book referes to it as a privelege.
Another good thing in Italy is that the older population does not drive. This gets rid of a good percentage of the people who should not be on the road in the first place.
I'd rather you do it wrong, than for me to have to do it at all.
Actually, I looked on the site - that's not a BBC job, it's from the strettodimessina site, and while one looks cockeyed, another (from the same end) looks square. And the implication is these are computer renders - not a photoshop job. Wierd.
The view from the end of the bridge