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Sicilian Suspension Bridge to Go Ahead

Posted by michael on from the bigger-is-better dept.

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.

25 of 376 comments (clear)

  1. This Bridge of Ours by gspeare · · Score: 3, Funny

    Wow, I hadn't realized that they were so low on places to dump bodies that they needed a bridge to drop them off of...

  2. have to wonder by JeanBaptiste · · Score: 5, Insightful

    how this will affect the culture of both areas. I know throughout history that small gap of water served as enough of a barrier to make sicily a distinct separate culture, is this bridge an end to that? or is this already the case due to other transportation?

  3. Chunnel by hagardtroll · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If this is so controverial, Why don't they just build a chunnel instead?

    Seemed to work for the English Channel.

    1. Re:Chunnel by Fantanicity · · Score: 5, Informative

      The english channel is more stable than the Med. See 20 Years of Seismicity in the Mediterranean - 1977 - 1997 USGS

    2. Re:Chunnel by bunyip · · Score: 3, Informative

      Not sure, it's not like the water is too deep:

      http://www.ifm.uni-hamburg.de/~wwwrs/publication s/ rubino/fig8.html

      Maybe it's the rock. The Chunnel was bored through chalk.

      Also, the Chunnel is a train tunnel, with cars and trucks put in large wagons to take them through. Cars and trucks driving through a long tunnel are too fire prone (remember the tunnel under Mt. Blanc?).

      Any civil engineers out there have a good explanation

    3. Re:Chunnel by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "Finally if you had bothered to read to the end of the article, the greens are against not because it would be ugly, but simple because the money could be better spent on a clean water supply for all the local population."

      I wonder if their argument is a bit backwards. The situation in Sicily might be caused by the fact that they have no good access to the mainland. With easier access both ways, it might result in changes to the island social climate such that the problem will end up being solved as a byproduct.

      In some ways, "build it and they will come" might actually work. Much sillier things have happened.

      I will admit that the bridge's price tag is HUGE. Such a move has a lot of risk and should be considered with all due care.

  4. Gibraltar Bridge by CaseyB · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I seriously doubt that it'll ever be built, but the Gibraltar Bridge is a fascinating concept nonetheless.

    9 *miles* long, with 3 towers, each almost twice the height of the CN Tower. Crazy!

    1. Re:Gibraltar Bridge by brad3378 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      &gt I seriously doubt that it'll ever be built, but the Gibraltar Bridge [discovery.com] is a fascinating concept nonetheless.
      9 *miles* long, with 3 towers, each almost twice the height of the CN Tower. Crazy!

      If the Gibralter Bridge is ever built, I predict it to be an incredible boost to the economies of both Europe and Africa. Industry in Europe could gain by getting cheap labor in Africa, while nations in Africa will receive heavy investments - Improving their infrastructure. Surely it would be a Win-Win situation for both Africa and Europe.

      Like the Tunnel connecting France and Great Brittain, I think it is likely bridges like these would only be feasible if high speed railways are used. High speed railways would allow more traffic and therefore higher revenues to help offset the costs. Unfortunately, I don't think Railways at the southern Regions of the Italian Mainland are currently up to the task. As Americans, we might fail to realize that railways are a primary mode of transportation in most of Europe. Although Expressways do exist, Many people choose to not drive at all because train rides are cheap yet convienient.

      It is my belief that the Sicilian Bridge will require much greater investments than the bridge itself to become sucessful. Traffic is what pays for gigantic projects like this, and without high speed railways and expressways it may be difficult.

      --
  5. Re:Huge engineering feat.. by Zen+Mastuh · · Score: 3, Interesting
    and how bad it'll be if some of the crazy Italian drivers get into a good sized accident. If you every been to Rome, you know what I'm talking about.

    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?"
  6. Re:Sicilian Suspension Bridge... by rmohr02 · · Score: 3, Interesting
    The bridge will be five kilometres long and its central span - supported by four steel cables each nearly a metre-and-a-half in diameter - will measure over three kilometres.
    A meter (I'm American--that's how we spell it) and a half wide?!?!? How do they make steel cables like that, or, for that matter, get them to bend at all?
  7. Re:Bad perspective by Fantanicity · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This does not bode well for their engineers

    I doubt the Italians are stupid enough to hire the BBC's photoshop monkey as their chief engineer.

  8. Same way they make any cable by wiredog · · Score: 3, Informative

    Take a bunch of strands and wrap them together.

    --

    Best Slashdot Co
  9. Longest span, not longest bridge by Mr.Phil · · Score: 5, Informative

    This new bridge will be the longest span between towers, but not the longest suspension bridge. Mackinac Bridge, connecting Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas, is five-miles long, including approaches, and is the world's longest suspension bridge between cable anchorages.

    http://www.mackinacbridge.org/

    I've been over it on days that where so windy there was a police escort across and you had to turn the car wheel at the expansion joints to stay in your lane. This was shortly after the lady in the Yugo blew over the side of the bridge in a wind storm.

  10. Kobe bridge by --daz-- · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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!

  11. Re:Not a great plan by Yokaze · · Score: 3, Informative

    Not that I'm qualified enough to challenge your statement, but what kind of bridges does one build then?

    And what drove those incompetent blokes to built the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco (1,280m span), or the Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo.
    Not to mention the largest one Akashi Kaikyo (1,990m span) which is mentioned in the submission (follow the link "old record").

    --
    "Between strong and weak, between rich and poor [...], it is freedom which oppresses and the law which sets free"
  12. Re:Sicilian Suspension Bridge... by athmanb · · Score: 3, Informative

    Notice that it's a cable 1.5 meters across and one kilometer long. So effectively the same ratio as a 1 meter long and 1.5 mm wide rope. It will bend just well.

  13. Re:Lucifer's Hammer by ocbwilg · · Score: 5, Informative

    think in this situation, a 'chunnel' or something like it would make more sense, not just because it would be more durable,

    Except during times of high seismic activity, for which the area is known. The articles also stated that Sicily drifts northwards about 3 feet per century, and shifting that is likely much easier for a suspension bridge to cope with than a tunnel.

    but because a big bridge like this will disrupt shipping lanes during construction,

    If there are no pylons in the water as planned, disruption during construction should be minimal.

    and possibly dangerous to ships after it is completed.

    The articles stated that the bridge will be some 230+ feet above sea level which allows enough clearance for US aircraft carriers. That should leave plenty of room for cargo ships.

  14. What about the Wayne Newton bridge? by gelfling · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yeah you know, the one they'll build in 2031 to connect The Las Vegas Islands to the Arizonian mainland?

  15. Fish Eye Lens by hotsauce · · Score: 4, Insightful

    *Sigh* Never seen a photo from a fish eye lens? That effect actually makes the bridge even more impressive.

    --
    Lies about crimes
  16. Another interesting new bridge by sehryan · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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.
  17. Re:Huge engineering feat.. by Bios_Hakr · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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.
  18. all large suspension bridges do this by AdamBa · · Score: 3, Informative
    This fact was trumpeted for the Verrazano-Narrows bridge, the Humber Bridge, the Akashi-Kaikyo bridge, etc, etc. I guess it is cool but not unique for a bridge over 4000 feet central span.

    - adam

  19. modern bridge deck design by AdamBa · · Score: 3, Informative
    Most modern suspension bridges have gone back to the thin deck instead of the heavy truss, but they make the deck aerodynamic in cross-section to handle the wind. The East Belt bridge in Denmark is like this. Only the Japanese (in some cases, like Akashi-Kaikyo, but not some of the other large ones they have built recently) and the Americans (theoretically, since they have stopped building long-span suspension bridges) still prefer the deep truss.

    You would think the narrow deck would look nicer but I like the truss actually. Plus I have not seen a recent bridge (since the Verrazano-Narrows in 1964) that really looked nice, due to ugly tower design or other issues. And don't get me started on cable-stayed, if there has been an elegant looking one built, I have missed it. The Pont de Normandie is one of the ugliest things I have ever seen. Where is Christo when you need him.

    - adam

  20. Re:Sicilian Suspension Bridge... by poot_rootbeer · · Score: 4, Funny

    A meter (I'm American--that's how we spell it)

    Funny -- I'm an American too, and I spell it Y-A-R-D...

  21. Re:Bad perspective by RollingThunder · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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