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Italy To Build World's Longest Suspension Bridge
Rei writes "According to the BBC, Italy has just granted contracts to begin work on the world's longest suspension bridge, connecting the island of Sicily to the mainland. The nearly four kilometer-long bridge across the Messina Straits is to carry a double six-lane highway and four high-speed railway tracks. Its main span will be 3.3 kilometers long; this would over 1.5x the current record-holder, the 1991-meter Akashi-Kaikyo bridge."
If your name is Sonny, don't stop at the tollbooth.
the nearly 4 km bridge is over 1.5x the 1.991 km japanese bridge?
well, that's a logically accurate statement, but so is the statement that gw bush is 1.5x smarter than your average chimpanzee
the truth is he is more like 2x as smart, and same with the bridges
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
This is to request slashdotters in Italy to track and tell us the role of Linux/OSS if any, in this project. If one knows how Linux can be of use, I'd welcome the information too. I wonder whether Linux/OSS can play a role.
If only they made it a little longer, say, 42,000 km. And also up instead of sideways.
I am slightly surprised that this project is expected to cost at most as much, if not less, than the extected cost of seismic retrofit for the relatively shorter San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (that project involves the construction of a completely new replacement for the eastern span of the bridge). How come? I suppose one reason is that the cost of everything in Bay Area is much much higher than in southern Italy. What about other factors? Is there something that makes the Italian design inherently cheaper to implement?
Hey, don't knock it. The Akashi Strait bridge -- which, as the article mentions, is the current record holder -- is built directly across a major fault line. They actually had a big earthquake during construction, and had to make the section in the middle a few feet longer to compensate! : S
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
why would it cause "havoc"? Surely it will be heavily monitored live by camera and other methods. It's going to be a double six-lane highway!! There's no reason one of the lanes couldn't be reserved for emergency traffic. Also, it's only 2.5 miles long. Huge for a bridge but nothing special otherwise. You could therefore reach any point on the bridge in about a minute. I have to say I'm not seeing any show-stoppers here.
- "Hear that?! The percolations are imminent! Cease your ingress!"
It's election time again in Italy and Berlusconi needs the votes of Sicilies citizens.
So he pulls out the old bridge plans like he did the last time and the time before.
Don't expect to travel to Sicily on try feet too soon.
>Yeah, well I sure beat the Italians wish they spent more money on their army after WWII. Its a shame they had to rebuild their entire freaking country. History, >doesn't teach us anything.
.... :)
;)
hi, i write from italy, emh, the bridge is new, is not rebuilded after the WWII, its a shame that the US Gov spent too much money in army to make war all around the world instead spending in istruction and story book.
BWT the bridge is not a good things, many of the people living in Sicilia and Calabria don't want it, cos will be devastating for enviroment.. but the Italy "president" Silvio Berlusconi (bleah!!) need to do this for glory and ammiration of people who don't know the real story of the bridge.
ok. sorry from my bad english, shame that italian gov didnt spent some money in english book
greetings from the Family
I had heard Rumours that the project may be suspended
The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
There are plenty of bridges that are longer than that and they serve their purpose well. This is just the longest suspension bridge. I've personally used the 23-mile bridge-tunnel across the Chesapeake Bay. Also consider the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, it's 23 miles all above water. Neither of them are as wide as this bridge is proposed to be, either.
How would they prevent against this?
Exactly the same way they prevent terrorist attacks against anything else - a combination of physical security and intelligence. Is it infallible? Of course not. But everything, everywhere is vulnerable to terrorist attacks, nothing new there.
How would they prevent against this? It seems such a bridge has two critical failure points at both ends and one or more in the middle.
I know they have water to cross, so its size doesn't appear to be the motivation, as say for the tallest building etc. but I think these are issues which (sadly) need to be considered.
Jesus Christ on a pogo stick! Can we even mention constructing a structure larger than a Taco Bell without someone saying "Well, that's a nice idea, but The Terrorists could just blow it up." Here's a whack from The Reality Stick for you. The Terrorists can (and will) Blow Stuff Up. They're generally going to do it where there are a lot of people in order to maximize Body Count (aka Terror). Fortunately, for The Terrorists, the world is a target rich environment because for the past 10,000 years people have not advanced "Well, that's a nice idea, but The Terrorists could just blow it up" as a credible reason to abandon major projects. A new world's longest bridge or World's Blankest Blank will be yet another target and life will go on.
Now, I'm not advancing this bridge as a good idea. There may be, and probably are, many legitimate reasons why it should be built differently or even not at all. However, suggesting that every new structure should be terrorist proof is delusional.
Peter
Downsize DC Today!
This is just a political manoeuvre by the Governemt.
They don't have the money to support it.
None seems to be really interested in such a thing (not even in Sicilia).
Scientists warn against it: the Etna volcano is just 50 Km far from there.
But stock quotes of the company that should build the bridge are going up any time someone quotes the bridge.
Maybe Computers will never be as intelligent as Humans.
For sure they won't ever become so stupid. [VR-1988]
For a short period of time, Storebaeltsbroen held the record, until Akashi was built.
:)
I actually crossed them both at the same day a few years ago. I wonder if that entitles me to a place in the Guiness book of records
If we needed 'em, we'd build 'em. I'm not into pouring money into pet projects that gain us nothing but a world record that'll last for just a few years, especially at the cost of something like a military.
This project may fail. But then not for technological reasons.
Several previous attempts of multibillion-dollar, EU-funded projects in that region have failed somewhere between Rome and Palermo. Money, people, and concrete have disappeared and there were never any witnesses. Hope things have changed.
Since when did any new bridge like this in America include more than one rail line, if any?
Software freedom...I love it!
Yes, it's a "mafia target". Who do you think will be siphoning off a lot of the contracting money going into building it? They're not interested in blowing it up.
http://www.welton.it/davidw/
The Mackinac Bridge here in michigan is 5 miles long, and held the record for longest suspension span until 1998 at 3/4 mile or so... Is this bridge just being built with NO middle column?? Anyways are some fun links for the Mackinac Bridge (that nobody knows exists it seems): here's all the stats and one pic: http://bridgepros.com/projects/Mackinac/Mackinac.h tm
here's the google images link for nice pics:
http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&c2c off=1&safe=off&q=mackinac+bridge&spell=1
^^^ and why in the hell doesnt slashdot support carriage returns on win2k + mozilla 1.7???
Please be aware that this is a plan that's been around for more than twenty years now, and it's not feasible. The wind is just too strong (been there last month, I saw it), the zone is a sismic one and generally noone cares anyway, because the roads that would bring people to the bridge (the infamous Salerno-Reggio Calabria) are ancient to be kind and generally a wreck.
Be also aware that this is election time, and our prime citizen Berlusconi will lose. So he bring out this old project, to gain some thousands of votes, and will leave it to the next administration to realize. Same old story...
(see the Mose project to protect Venice from floodings)
And just consider having to resurface that beast. But the probable issues aside, it will make for some beautiful photo opportunities.
In these days, bleeps and bloops mean something more
Four kilometres long.
That's a lot of places to throw bodies off...
You want to update this. Since end of August, it's 23 miles all below water...
Without wishing in any way to denigrate the Viaduc de Millau, it is not comparable to the Japanese bridge in engineering difficulty. The French effort is the highest bridge, but the Japanese bridge consists of three spans of 960, 1991 and 960 metres respectively. A main span of almost two kilometres is a formidible challenge under any circumstances, and especially when it must be built to withstand an 8.5 magnitude earthquake with an epicentre within 150 kilometres.
I wonder if Mr. Berlusconi has heard of a place called Sardinia.
Future Wiki -- If you don't think about the future, you cannot have one.
Beer kills more people than terrorists.
George Bush kills more people than terroists (of course some people think he is a terrorist.)
Terrorists kill people in particularly nasty ways, and get heaps of "the oxygen of publicity".
However, the Mafia (Based in Sicily) almost certaily kill more people than the terrorists, and if the terrorists mess with this bridge, then I am sure the Mafia will "make them an offer they can't refuse"
Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
I am an italian guy, and I think this bridge is simple unuseful!!! It cost a lot of money to a country that have money problems, and maiby it is dangerous too! Boat exist!
Free As In Freedom
Surely it will be heavily monitored live by camera and other methods. It's going to be a double six-lane highway!! There's no reason one of the lanes couldn't be reserved for emergency traffic. Also, it's only 2.5 miles long. Huge for a bridge but nothing special otherwise. You could therefore reach any point on the bridge in about a minute. I have to say I'm not seeing any show-stoppers here.
Ok guy, you weren't born in Sicily..
In Italy, nobody ever uses the rightmost lane, so emergency traffic shouldn't have any problems moving about (unless they also refuse to use that lane for the same mysterious reason as the other drivers).
May contain traces of nut.
Made from the freshest electrons.
This bridge 99% likely will not be built. If this bridge stood over the straits the power of Mafia in Sicily would collapse. They couldn't keep the local population in poverty and opression by selling drinking water (under their exclusive mafia control) for hyper-inflated prices, because this bridge is planned to carry two giant aquaducts inside its deck, too.
With this bridge, Sicily would be integrated into Italy and central government and police would have much better access to the island to keep the order and uphold the law. Five years after this bridge is completed the mafia would be history! Godfathers will not allow that, they will terrorize the population so nobody dares to work on the bridge construction and importing foreign labour will drive costs up. There will be sabotage, bad concrete mixed, load-cable wires cut, improper steel used, etc.
Unless military law is imposed in Sicily and enforced with the same cruel determination as dictator mussolini did in the 1930s, the mafia will manage to halt the bridge's construction. As soon as the brdige is ready, lotsa northern cops could be moved into the island and organized crime rooted up in a normal civil manner, no need for the italian army any more.
I hope the italians will have that 1% luck and the bridge completes. It would be a tremendous GLOBAL achievement to get rid of the sicilian mafia, the capo of all mafii. The calabrians would break then and finally the US-based italian mafia could be destroyed, too. Judge Giovanni Falcone did not die in vain if this giant bridge is indeed built by 2012!
Well, there's the emergency lane, as in most european countries (at least on highways), then there's the rightmost traffic lane. Which is empty.
May contain traces of nut.
Made from the freshest electrons.
Do you know how many people and tons of goods used to cross the channel by ship?
A couple of magnitude orders more than the Canale di Messina!
The distance between the two sides is 20 times larger in the British Channel.
And, moreover, there is no active volcano snoring close to the tunnel.
I'd spend those money and efforts in something more useful or less useless at least.
Maybe Computers will never be as intelligent as Humans.
For sure they won't ever become so stupid. [VR-1988]
I can see the Chesapeak Bay Bridge tunnel from my bedroom and I can assure you accidents on that thing create miles of traffic.
As an aside my most unusual experience was heading in to the tunnel and noticing I was headed *under* a US Navy submarine.
I don't doubt that at all. Being two lanes in either direction it doesn't lend itself to allowing traffic to flow around them. Though, a bridge as wide as the one proposed, with the (comparatively) short distance proposed, shouldn't have as much of a problem.
As an aside my most unusual experience was heading in to the tunnel and noticing I was headed *under* a US Navy submarine.
I can imagine. It's a very surreal span of roadway. I've only been on it once, but I was quite astonished. For those who haven't crossed it: After you're a couple miles into crossing it you can't see land at all. Then, approaching the tunnels, the bridge looks to disappear into the water until you get closer and see the mouth of the tunnel.
In the US, our government has allocated $223 million for a 6300 foot long, 200 foot high (~2 km, 60 meter) bridge Not too far out of line when you scale down the Italian bridge.
They are going to put it between Ketchican, Alaska (population 14500) and Gravina Island (population 50).
Sicilians may have invented organized crime, but the US Congress has perfected it.