Italy's $12BN Bridge Mystery

Will Italy ever build this engineering masterpiece?
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[@andyb6642]

As an Italian i can say that was pretty accurate. I appreciate you explaining the whole controversy on it in such a short time.

[@rodrigodearcayne]

@Leontinuswe’re all terroni, cumpà! How did Lega Nord went from asking for secession to asking for making a 12 billion bridge on the Messina strait?

[@porfirioErodriguez]

The soccer bit was awesome. it all made sense LOL

[@Nickle314]

Da maffia got the money.

[@bigplanett]

The Mafia doesn't want the bridge built. They're making too much money on their SNAV Hydrofoils. They are a major part of the problem.

[@teostefani]

As an Italian citizen I'm disappointed by this video. Poorly build on stereotypes. How come.wall Street journal did better? kzbin.info/www/bejne/i6O5on-Yi7eUpM0si=85o6hwtkqmBpzOPM

[@charleslynch340]

10/10, the football analogy was perfect and that was awesome, 10 minutes felt like 30 seconds and I could listen to Mr Marchisciana talk all day

[@CortexNewsService]

It's rare to see the phrase "political football" made visual. It made sense even to an American like me.

[@d1234as]

No, it's quite perfect because there's a typo: it's Giuseppe Conte, not Giuseppe Conti.

[@rogink]

@@d1234as And the name of the sponsor: Brillant?

[@t.4999]

🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌

[@commentatore3223]

9/10 because no goal has been made yet

[@paoloberlanda8978]

It’s incredible, and somewhat disappointing, that as an Italian citizen, a KZbin video can provide more information about this bridge than all the transport ministers of the governments I’ve encountered in my lifetime

[@Halomax]

Not mentioning the fact that during one persons lifetime there are more ministers passing by in Italy than Euros, the bridge would cost 😅😅

[@bigplanett]

I lived in Messina for 3 months and Reggio Calabria for 4.5 months. I can tell you that the Mafia is not interested in the bridge since they are making lots of money on their SNAV Hydrofoils. They are part of the problem behind the bridge not being built. It's just not discussed openly.

[@teostefani]

Engineer Explains How the World’s Longest Suspension Bridge Will Be Built | WSJ

[@tireballastserviceofflorid7771]

Ain't socialist countries great...

[@ivankuzin8388]

@@tireballastserviceofflorid7771 As somebody who actually lived in a socialist country (obviously unlike you), I can say that Italy is *not* a socialist country, but a capitalist one. Problems they have have nothing to do with their system.

[@HeisenbergFam]

B1M's content really feels like a documentary, the quality is on point

[@saranobutt]

You're a genius, you figure that out on your own?

[@жопа_полный]

?????@@saranobutt

[@hnacs8117]

@@saranobutt he’s a genius in my book

[@el.pincheguero]

​@@saranobuttand you're a condescending (you know what it means, right?) muppet

[@hindsightcapital2021]

could easily be a featured story on any news network

[@dosgos]

The winds and seas are brutal on that strait. It is a relatively long distance too. Outside natural challenges, Calabria & Sicily are notoriously "difficult" places to get construction done.

[@stefanodadamo6809]

Difficult like, if the gear doing the work isn't from the "proper" firms, it suffers any sort of sudden accident, until the local mobsters make offers that can't be refused.

[@krashd]

@@stefanodadamo6809 The Italians need to crush the Cosa Nostra once and for all, they have been a plague on Italy for too long.

[@ThisTheAviator]

@@stefanodadamo6809 It's always italians badmouthing their own country.

[@Slo-ryde]

The mobsters run the ferries….so they won’t let it happen!

[@stefanodadamo6809]

@@Slo-ryde they run almost everything down there, and what they don't run they plunder from

[@samsqu4red]

Ok, you convinced me. As an Italian, i will join brilliant like you said, learn everything I need to know and build the fricking bridge myself

[@Regimeshifts]

thats the spirit

[@hb1338]

One more thing - there is still huge political and social sensitivity to the collapse of the Morandi bridge. It was the centrepiece of an important trade route between France and Italy and its collapse was probably caused by negligent maintenance. There is an understandable fear in many circles that any new bridge might be vulnerable to exactly the same influences which caused the Morandi bridge to collapse.

[@Slo-ryde]

Bridge upkeep will be very expensive once it is built…. I could see the toll being 100 Euro per vehicle to cover the cost.

[@markomarkomarko]

Well, technology has come a long way since. We know more about materals and about building and maintaining structures now that we did 50 years ago!

[@OscarLazzarino]

@@markomarkomarko knowing about maintenance is one thing. Performing such maintenance is a whole different matter.

[@markomarkomarko]

@@OscarLazzarino as someone who lives in Serbia, I agree with you 100%

[@diegociccolini575]

@@Slo-ryde Maybe for some time but the A22 runs on gigantic bridge segments and the toll is about the same as every other Highway. Tho the upkeep costs are very very high.

[@lucalanzilao8099]

As an Italian, that soccer game made my day. Thanks!

[@scyllajk2757]

Why does a italian call football soccer? you fake.

[@JP_TaVeryMuch]

Soccer?

[@realgamer8214]

@@JP_TaVeryMuchprobably an American whose great great great grandmother was Italian 😂 jk

[@varoonnone7159]

Italian football players are the greatest comedians on earth

[@allaboutmika]

LMFAO@@realgamer8214

[@--Paws--]

The two towers of the bridge should be called Scylla on oneside and Charybdis on the otherside.

[@hreeman]

It has been such a rewarding journey to see the B1M content evolve over the years. The writing and the editing have been polished to the brightest sheen. Great video! Truly touched my heart as well as informed my brain

[@SamTheShamAndTheCat]

Can I ask you a question about your comment?

[@phillipv2500]

The B1M video is one of the highlights of my week. Always well documented and with fantastic graphics and explanations for a layperson. Thanks. Hopefully Italy pushes through and gets it built for the sake of Sicily's economy.

[@roberto6536]

the bridge is unuseful for the economy of Sicily: the immediate consequence of the bridge would be 35000 people without job (the same people that work around the transport services between the island and the continent). It's very superficial to talk in that way of things you don't really know.

[@volpedo2000]

This is the exact backward-thinking attitude that will never make this project happen.

[@roberto6536]

I hope you are right@@volpedo2000

[@mariocapanna7837]

@@volpedo2000 I am passionate about engineering, I have been following the bridge project for more than 20 years, during this time I have formed my own idea about why this project is so opposed by the Italian left. The left defends big interests of other countries that would receive harm from the completion of the bridge and related infrastructure. The Mafia has an interest in Sicily remaining underdeveloped and poor .

[@volpedo2000]

@@mariocapanna7837 I don't know much about foreign affairs and how the bridge would harm other countries, so I cannot comment. But the rest, I totally agree with you.

[@steini6771]

I loved the "political total confusion football game", that reflects a lot on how the Italians somehow prefer to "run" their Government and more. Looking forward to the completion of the bridge, if ever. lol -

[@hb1338]

Whisper this quietly, but there is a suspicion that Italy would function better under a dictatorship.

[@pawelzielinski1398]

@@hb1338 I think we went over that ~80 years ago or so. It didn't end well. At least not for il duce 🙂

[@Slo-ryde]

@@hb1338yeah…. That is what they said about Germany after they lost the First World War!

[@thewanderingsloth432]

Already tried that way. It didn't work very well.@@hb1338

[@cochazza]

The "bridge" serves two main purposes: throw-away claims during election campaigns; "placing" friends and relatives when governing. The current government looks even more motivated to actually build it because otherwise they'd have a whole lot of other actual, urgent, everyday issues to solve. This let them dream and play big, knowing they can't possibly bring it to completion before the term's end so however they screw up it'll be yet again someone else's problem by then

[@Gerthious]

If you ever visit Messina, visiting the museum on the north of the city to learn about the earthquake is fascinating. There is also the most epic enormous Caravaggio. If you've never been to Messina, it has some of the best street art in the world, easily accessible from the train station for a day visit!

[@gaetanomontante5161]

I was born in Sicily in what seems like a Century ago, and although I emigrated (was emigrated) when still a child, I always remembered as I grew older the magical myth of a "Bridge" to the Continent. Now that I am an old man, the purely magical qualities of a bridge over the these tormented waters of the Mediterranean Sea is something that still lives in my mind and if ever completed it has the ability to transform the very essence of what is possible for mankind. The bridge, any bridge here, has to deal with constant tremors of the land, it has to deflect almost hurricane strong winds on a continuous basis, it has to deal with deadly vibrations, we cannot forget the tendency of materials to suffer fatigue and corrosion, and ABOVE ALL, the evil intervention of the local Mafia (yes, it still exists in Sicily and it has never been stronger) to want to control the quality of materials (the lowest possible at the highest price) used for the construction, as well as the pure unadulterated fury of the owners, operators and workers of the flotilla of ferries that currently effect all transportation across the strait. Considering all these REAL difficulties (did I mention the endemic anemic reaction of all governments in Rome?) is it to much to imagine that the accomplishment of such dream work of art would be considered as one of the truly epic and colossal construction that mankind ever erected?

[@Nphen]

I always wondered why so many films & TV shows had scenes where the local mafia buried bodies in construction sites. The older I get, the more I see & hear that organized crime around the world is involved with construction. The quickest, cleanest, cheapest way to get it done would probably be to call China, both for financing and construction.

[@Derideo]

Naw, just another dumb boondoggle.

[@alphardxyz]

The mafia argument just sounds lazy. So we're never going to make any large investment in Sicily for the fear that the mafia will make money off of it? And then the Southerners keep complaining that the government isn't investing any money for them. Italy is such a joke of a country, any other developed nation would have finished the bridge decades ago.

[@Slo-ryde]

Politicians know how difficult and costly the project will be, For the many reasons you stated…. This is why it was never realized, and wisely so!

[@kabijoshi5949]

All bull shit. No country like Italy today can do it. All to make fool and make money in youtube.

[@gabrielaperrig]

great content as always 👏🏻 - but that soccer game was just brilliant 😂

[@noegenesis]

No way you do a video about Sicily bridge while I’m spending my vacation here 😂 It’s a beautiful place and would definitely benefit from the bridge greatly. Fingers crossed that it happens! Great video as always, your production quality is really top notch! Keep up the great work.

[@mrbbqcraig]

Absolutely, this has to be one of the best channels on KZbin, even if massive engineering isn't your thing. The reporting, the details of how a story is reported, and also the element of comedy thrown is is just excellent.... cheers to you guys 🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@qdaniele97]

One small "political" problem many documentaries forget to mention is that building the support towers and access ramps on both sides would require wiping out two small towns and relocating all their inhabitants, which is easier said than done.

[@JackFate76]

And possibly not the right thing to do?

[@Slo-ryde]

Not to mention the general maintenance of the bridge once built !

[@DlcEnergy]

@@JackFate76 Not strictly. Places get changed all the time. My childhood primary school and public library no longer exist. This big field i played on now has houses there... The vacant school grounds now has houses there. A playground that was on another field no longer exists either. Everything changes... It might not feel like the same place i grew up anymore, but change has got to happen. Out with the old, in with the new. Also i'm from Britain, there's a lot of places you just see and think, yeah that could do with knocking down. lol

[@Ale7it]

This is not true, you have to do below average expropriations, for other public works they are much bigger. The junctions are mostly underground, they have no impact on the surface. If anything, go and see how much coastline is sacrificed for ferries, and how much traffic devastates the urban centers of Villa and Messina because of ferries. The residents are literally held hostage with obviously severely impaired air quality and thus incur drastically higher incidences of disease.

[@carmelospadea8849]

Fake news

[@PaudyalArjun]

This bridge sounds very similar to the Rion-Antirion Bridge in gulf of Corinth, Greece. Earthquake problem, wind problem and violent currents of water problem all solved in a similar way.

[@albertodv2165]

With a tiny difference: Rion-Antirion Bridge is 2.88km long, with a maximum span of 560m. Messina bridge would have a 3.3km SPAN, 500m more than the entire length of Rion-Antirion Bridge. To give you an idea, Çanakkale bridge, the bridge with the longest span in the world, cited in the video, is 2km... Messina's bridge span would be 1.65 times longer, almost doubling Yangsigang bridge, the 3rd longest one All of this without money nor expertise to do it, and all to connect the poorest sides of the country. Calabria (on the other side of the strait of Messina) is connected to the peninsula, but it's the poorest region of the Country

[@MrNoncredo]

@@albertodv2165 e tutto questo perché meloni e salvini devono restituire il favore alla mafia per essere stati eletti

[@moos5221]

@@albertodv2165 What could possibly go wrong? They learned in Genoa how not to do it, so now they are ready for the task of creating the biggest bridge of its kind ever....or at least they are ready to give the money to the organized crime families and politicians involved...the bridge will better never be build, for the safety of all people travelling the straight. Italy doesn't have the ressources, neither monetary nor intellectual.

[@georgeiv6925]

As a Greek i can tell you that Rion Antirrion bridge is one of the very few things that make me proud to be a modern Greek. Problem is that the toll fee is really high for average greek standards and i think it will be the same for our south Italian brothers, so in a sense this bridge is gonna be a pride for the industrialist north and no so much of the south. It would be better if those billions were actually put onto education and public infrastructure other than that in order for Sicily and the rest of the Italian South to create the next great italian Inventors and Stem masters. Only good thing that this bridge would bring is for mafia to move drugs and other illegal stuff faster. So , i do like what the Sicilian mechanic said about harnessing Scylla and Charybdis but at the end like us here public underinvestment is what keeps us economically poor.

[@edombre4637]

@@moos5221 utter BS

[@jonathanravenhilllloyd2070]

I'm barely halfway through and am aware you're not allowed to show the final design but am screaming to know whether the rail lines will meet the EU high speed standard?!

[@Andrea-rk6uh]

Actually there are a lot of videos with the final project and a lot more information than what they have. The want to start building it next year so everything is already decided. Yep high speed trains will run trough the bridge.

[@cpav9062]

@@Andrea-rk6uh then I must be quick to try that train on ferry they have right now, before it gets permanently cancelled

[@ninjaz5736]

It's somewhat common that lines over such bridges are designed for a lower speed (say 100-160km/h, 60-100mph) than the rest of the line (maybe 250-320km/h, 150-200mph), however I can't imagine they wouldn't have it at least connected to the high speed lines, that would be a silly decision IMO.

[@Hession0Drasha]

Would be stupid if it didn't. Both sides will have hsr.

[@Devilm00n]

@@ninjaz5736 high speed rails in Italy stop shortly after Naples, even if the bridge supported high speed the trains would have no way to get there and nowhere to go

[@PeterBergaus]

The story telling in all these videos is superb. The B1M is always an enjoyable part of my day. 😊

[@triton_152]

i want that architect Marchisciana to make a podcast, his voice is so calming and satisfying, and also built the bridge!

[@cx5307]

I always wondered why there are big bridges in Denmark and even a tunnel to the UK, but no bridge over the small body of water to Sicily. Now I know.

[@hb1338]

I have travelled through the Channel tunnel on a number of occasions, but I have not heard about the tunnel from Denmark to the UK. Is there a website for it ?

[@vanhakaveri]

@@hb1338 He obviously meant that there is a tunnel to the UK, not specifying where it comes from.

[@pawelzielinski1398]

@@hb1338 The tunnel connects UK to France.

[@JaCrispy3060]

@@hb1338 That would be an extremely long tunnel lmao

[@krashd]

@@pawelzielinski1398 We also have a tunnel to Denmark but it is only used for bacon deliveries. No one does bacon like the Danish do bacon...

[@vanrosseyon]

Seeing the short clips from The Odyssey made me smile. That film (or mini series?) is one of my absolute favorites about the Greek Mythology. A big recommendation to those who haven't seen it yet. On the other hand: Great and interesting video as always guys, it's always a pleasure to watch and learn from you all!

[@collide007]

I’m having difficulty finding the series to watch. Is it still available or called something different elsewhere?

[@ZakhadWOW]

hell even The Police reference Scylla and Charybdis in one of their songs ("King Of Pain" IIRC)

[@philipvecchio3292]

My Grandmother was born in Messina in the 1930s. She said there had been talks to build the bridge her whole life. Thanks for talking about everyone's favorite flat football (Sicily).

[@il_Presepe]

It's part of a collection of ambitious engineering ventures, such as the Berlin Brandenburg Airport (a 30-year project plagued with delays), Jeddah Tower (with construction currently halted), the unfinished super-tall Goldin Finance 117 (also known as China 117 Tower), and the stunning La Sagrada Familia, the largest unfinished church in the world (a project initiated 140 years ago). My fellow Italians, we're not alone, and we have plenty of reasons to keep our optimism alive!

[@Ottee2]

My understanding is that La Sagrada Familia is due to be completed in 2025. I would like to visit Barcelona for that event.

[@cikho]

yeah, beside that we as italian have spent more money on engineering studies, projects, counter studies, every possible type of evaluation or assesment (which of course has been performed at least twice) etc, than what would be the cost of actually building and maintaining the bridge.. provided our government is able to spend half a milion for creating a website, imagine the cost of a geological engineering assesment..

[@TheMrPeteChannel]

Don't feel bad. Sometimes it takes 10 years to make a bus route in the USA.

[@Slo-ryde]

A big obstacle is the Mafia

[@Enrico-]

A church takes a few centuries to be build. Barcelona wants to be a capital, they need a big church.

[@tobiwan001]

I remember the proposed bridge more than 20 years ago. It's like a Golden Gate Bridge with everything doubled. If I remember correctly then the proposed supporting towers would be 400m tall. It would be fantastic to see it.

[@Helga7850]

There's too MAFIA in Sicily that immobilizes anything.

[@cosettapessa6417]

@@Helga7850shut up nancy

[@TheMrMerudin]

Italian here, the bridge project is literally a meme in our culture

[@hjpev6469]

I hope Italy can get it done. It would be awesome to see a bridge of this size and I'm sure it would help the Italian economy.

[@FabrizioPati-i6f]

No, it wouldn't help. Instead, projects spread across the entire Italian territory would do so; implementation of a hydrogeological plan, arrangement of the water network, ordinary railway network and many other things, not immediately visible, but which impact the daily life of every citizen

[@kattagarian]

@@FabrizioPati-i6f Here in Brazil we suffer the same problem. Not the bridge problem, but the addressing the wrong problems problem.

[@FabrizioPati-i6f]

@@kattagarian Well said, I think I'll steal your sentence

[@superarmageddon55]

another problem of being on the fault line apart from the earthquakes is that sicily is continuously getting further from mainland italy at a rate that goes, depending on who you ask, from 1-2 mm each year to 1 cm each year

[@signor_No]

When you have more than 3km of bridge you can easy find the space to put even 50cm of distance between the spacer of the bridge, that's not a problem

[@Tom_Hadler]

​@@signor_No No, probably doable - but how much movement will it cope with in case if a severe earthquake moving one side up and right while twisting the other end another way....this seems a problem to me. Interesting, but surely not worth it

[@alessandro7805]

The real problem is that the pillars would be on 2 different tectonic plates so an earthquake could change the distance between pillars all of sudden, idk if is even possible to build a bridge that could resist that but if an earthquake enought strong to do that hits the area the bridge would be the last of our problems

[@Danbatio]

The final cost of the bridge would be egregious. In Argentina, a $2.5 BN nuclear plant finally costed over $12 BN and 30 years to get running. Considering that Italy is our mother land, I can asume the same path.

[@felipe.hylian]

As always, B1M has great videos about engineering and construction. Please do a video about Chacao Brigde, largest suspension bridge in the southern hemisphere and currently under construction.

[@Sn0wy_TV]

The football edit was class tbf and made it somewhat easier to understand

[@gabriele7381]

I hate when people say we should use the money to update the roads and railways in Sicily as an argument against the bridge. It's obvious that both are necessary, but why on earth should Sicily get a high-speed rail and proper highways without them being connected to mainland Italy? The bridge would bring so many investments and Sicily could have the opportunity to become a major entrance gate for goods to Italy and the EU.

[@tank-eleven]

it's a stupid place for an entrance gate, in order to be efficient you want to maximise the distance sailed by ships and minimise the truck/train usage makes more sense to build a proper harbour in Sicily and ship from there to Marseille, Genova, Barcelona or somewhere more close and connected to central Europe

[@lucyhumber6053]

There is 1 single daily train connecting Trapani (located on the west corner of Sicily) and Messina, and it takes approximately 9 HOURS to reach it's destination! But thank God when you get to Messina you'll be able to save 35 whole minutes 😐. It would take only 1.5 BILLIONS to build a high speed railway connecting Sicily's 3 biggest cities. With 12 BILLIONS you could build high speed railroads connecting ALL of southern Italy. This bridge is a complete WASTE of money!

[@bababababababa6124]

That’s always a stupid idea against any projects. In my country Nigeria people were ACTUALLY against us building our high speed rail because our roads are bad and they should “focus on that”. It’s a dumb rhetoric

[@JeepTJ]

The fact that the bridge will make Sicily a logistic hub is 100% fake and nonsense. As said above you want to maximize the distance sailed by ship

[@gabriele7381]

​@@lucyhumber6053 FS is already working to modernise the rail lines between Palermo, Catania and Messina, with top speeds of 250km/h. The cost is 11.2 billion euros, and it's not even to build a real high speed rail. I don't know where you got that 1.5 billion. There are also other works on minor rail lines. In any case, it's simply impossible to build a true high-speed network in Sicily without having a connection to the mainland, it would be a complete waste of money. As for the daily train from Trapani to Messina, maybe blame the region since the rolling stock is a regional competence.

[@TrivelaK]

As an inhabitant of the Strait of Messina (Calabria), finally you too are taking care of this tormented bridge! The video is very accurate, from politics to the historical events surrounding the earthquake. The bridge would give an economic boost to this land and significantly reduce pollution!

[@MrNoncredo]

certo, quello che dici è sacrosanto chiunque vorrebbe più sviluppo e meno impatto ambientale, ma ciò non toglie che per costruire una tale opera è quasi impossibile, se poi ci metti che a gestire tutto ci sta salvini fa già ridere così aggiungi che cosanostra e ndrangheda ci metteranno le mani sopra,,, amen

[@Z3t487]

​@@MrNoncredoSe il governo non cade forse stavolta lo fanno sul serio il ponte... dai, vediamo nel 2024 che succede. Spero di non sbagliarmi.

[@FabrizioPati-i6f]

An boost for what? The perfect analogy for this bridge is that of a motorway that connects two mule tracks, and as for the reduction in pollution, since when is it achieved by increasing road traffic? Furthermore, for current commuters it would be useless

[@lucyhumber6053]

@@FabrizioPati-i6f Exactly! How could shortening a trip by 35 minutes boost the economy? Also ships are the most efficient means of transportation as opposed to cars, so the environmental impact argument is just false.

[@Hastdupech8509]

​@@FabrizioPati-i6fSince when it takes ferries away from water and puts also trains on it, enabling potential Rome-Catania/Palermo HS train trips, replacing the 2 most crowded air routes of our country. And even if Sicilian highways are in need of repair (the A2 is excellent now), they get their job done. Same for Sicilian railways that are now undergoing upgrading, with Calabria's Thyrrenian railway being already one of the fastest conventional lines of the country. The bridge doesn't connect 3rd world towns, but 5 million Italians with the rest.

[@jamesknapp64]

As an American I love B1M gives me visuals of what places around the world are doing.

[@IKetoth]

Honestly that wasn't as if it was a particular instance of covering up information about the bridge, that email exchange being thrown around departments for weeks with basically no results was basically just how email chains (and particularly ones to the government) go in Italy

[@Imthefake]

nobody wants to do any work so they just make it someone else's problem

[@EricJCaraballoso]

Imagine your people were so advanced thousands of years ago that they built a several kilometer bridge to connect a massive island to their empire... and you have the opportunity to show the world once again your people's ingenuity... I really hope this gets built!

[@albero319]

The Roman’s never built the bridge. And I don’t see how spending billions of tax money on a pride project is a good idea

[@ThomasBarth-gr1sz]

it seems to me that, politics aside, the Italians can feel there is a high likelihood that this project might fail (which would end catastrophically), so they think it's better not to even try. Maybe in the future, if the conditions are all optimal, but not right now.

[@NEIL-CURCIO]

like many people I have relatives in Sicily and the bridge would transform the economy there forever, I hope it will finally happen

[@alessioatta762]

Me too, greetings from Messina!

[@NEIL-CURCIO]

@@alessioatta762 🤙

[@eliaspadari2761]

From a dreamlike structure to meme material. Cheers from italy!

[@manweoettam]

As an Italian (northern, so I'm not accustomed with local problems of the "bridge" area) I found this video more explanatory than anything the Italian media do on the subject. Thanks. Now the bad things: a part for political propaganda (if it was for this, now we should have at least 5 Messina Bridges), the problems aren't only the cost and the engeneering of the bridge itself, whom are not secondary, but also: the real will to do the bridge for Italian people, mainly but not only to ecological concerns; the Mafias historical hands on Italian construction sector; the need to expropriate and put somewhere else people of some little cities around the pillages of the bridge (and we still have families who live in the temporary houses not only after the earthquake of L'Aquila in 2009, but also from the Messina Earthquake of 1908, so temporary means forever here and an expropriation isn't so easy to do); the maintenance efficiency and cost (at least after the Morandi bridge collapse, because it uncovered a system of false control and maintenance on most of the Italian street and rail systems, with other little bridges collapsed in the last few years on the highway and in little cities areas all over the nation). So, the main concern in Italian people is to have the usual maintenance of traditional roads and railways at a good standard before going to a gargantuan project without the maintenance after some years.

[@fb55255]

For more information on the bridge such as the documentation I would suggest getting in contact with Webuild as they are quite active on KZbin. Otherwise channels like Geopop, Comunicazione Tecnologica and StaticaFacile have done great videos on the subject and are probably willing to help. Hoping to see a follow up video from you with construction details.

[@CardplayerLifestyle]

The soccer analogy! Dude, you just keep killing it and delighting us all in new ways with each video. Thank you, as always, for the constructu-tainment!

[@pesetskyps]

Football visualization idea is brilliant 😅

[@biskero]

the group of engineers in charge wrote, in the feasibility study, that this bridge cannot be build because the materials needed to sustain it do not exists yet.

[@BoomVang]

Currently a ferry strike throws even local train service into chaos. Local Sicily trains tend to originate in mainland Italy.

[@cliffwoodbury5319]

I have watched so many videos on this and have read several articles on it also.... Will be interesting when they build it being they have wanted a bridge or tunnel there since roman times.

[@robertshelton3796]

LOL I despise what you call football but the bit at 6:00 was gold. Nice work!

[@zharkoo]

The football animation was brilliant... 10 out of 10

[@ColeSpolaric]

I also read something where Italians were protesting it over migratory bird concerns.

[@dominiclester3232]

Great video, thanks!

[@donactdum6635]

Dude I fully laughed my ass off during the football meme lmfao

[@boredgrass]

I ...may need one or another go to keep it in my head, but the project history lesson was divine 🥰❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@SuperTommox]

This whole bridge has become a meme in Italy at this point 😂

[@MadridWalker]

Your content is so great mate! Thanks for sharing!

[@djpalmer31]

Looking at the place where the Sicilian side will be it looks like they would have to do a lot of demolition of existing properties to build the tower and approach road. The bridge would funnel a lot of traffic towards a narrow strip of land.

[@Matityahu755]

Loved the soccer analogy, just pure brilliance.

[@Goxilla]

Almost 3 millions subs. You guys came a long way and I´m glad I was there for the journey

[@luizvictoriobaptistaneto1561]

Like always, awesome video!

[@ElusiveTy]

This sounds somewhat similar to the proposal to build a bridge between Tasmania and mainland Australia across the Bass Strait, or even between North and South Islands in New Zealand. Really dangerous waters and so most construction is put on ice.

[@kenoliver8913]

But the Straits of Messina are far, far narrower than either of these. The point of doing it with a suspension bridge rather than cable-stayed or cantilevered is that you can make a single span long enough to cross the strait - it becomes irrelevant how dangerous the waters are because there is no obstacles or construction in them.

[@jeanmkaufmann]

The football commentary was amazing. A perfect way to explain it simply. 🙂🇨🇦

[@RockPaperScissor267]

A tunnel with rails & highway would be a great idea.

[@antoniousai1989]

You can't build a tunnel in that area. The water is hundreds of meters deep. The maximum peak is 500 meters.

[@Andrea-rk6uh]

They studied all the possibilities and the suspended bridge is the best one. The problem with the tunnel, as said in the video, is that the sea is really turbulent in that area.

[@antoniousai1989]

@@Andrea-rk6uh He means a tunnel under the sea, like the Eurotunnel. It's underground.

[@DavidMulderOne]

@@antoniousai1989 Engineering problems probably arise from it being between two major tectonic plates. The UK is on the same plate.

[@antoniousai1989]

@@DavidMulderOne Read my previous comment. The channel is also shallow. The Messina's is not flat and continues the slopes of the two sides. It's extremely deep for being not extremely large. The biggest problem by far would be digging 500 meters underground.

[@GeekyMedia]

The football analogy is SUPERB!!! Another great video guys

[@enrymather]

I'm Italian and worked in public administration for a while. The reason why no one replied to you might just be that it's pretty common in our disorganized and often understaffed public offices to fall behind schedule when it comes to replying to people's letters and requests. Some employees don't care at all about that part of their work (some don't care about their work altogether) and generally speaking there has never been any real push for the public sector to become faster and more efficient in examining enquiries from the public, as this is not seen as a crucial part of public administration's work. Beyond that, public entrustments and calls for tender are typically a bureaucratic nightmare in Italy due to the maze of oftentimes obscure and contradicting laws and the lack of serious coordination between different responsible offices (and hence the long back-and-forth)... plus many other factors at play. Welcome to Italy!

[@BigBisalreadytaken]

The soccer analogy was hysterical... and extremely enlightening. Bravo!

[@yemenita]

you know more about the bridge than the Minister of Infrastructure

[@MrNoncredo]

te lo spiega direttamente salvini🤡

[@alleymed0250]

Keep up the good work, thank you

[@Deckzwabber]

I'm obviously no expert. But I feel investing just a small percentage of the bridge cost into the ferry service could give the Messina strait the best and fastest ferries in the world, which will be a lot less vulnerable to earthquakes than the world's longest suspension bridge.

[@hb1338]

The traffic capacity of the bridge will be many. many times that of the largest and fastest fleet of ferries.

[@Enrico-]

nuclear powered ferries?

[@EmmeCalde]

Amazing content, as always!

[@SirOpinesALot]

Right next to a massive active volcano that could at any moment make a satellite cone near the bridge and render it useless. There are satellite cones and ancient lava tubes all over the island.

[@stefanschneider3681]

Loved the „tossed around“-intermezzo 🤣!

[@Merethos]

Italy can also build a tunnel. Like the tunnel from Fehmarn to Denmark with a High-Speed Road and High-Speed Rail tracks, that would be a much better solution, than a bridge. This tunnel would be more protected from Wind and the sea and it could build earthquake save. I think Italy can furthermore get EU funding for this project.

[@jacopoborgia]

what about earthquakes? can a tunnel handle it better than a bridge?

[@nishu413]

Actually yes . Tunnel handle earthquake better than any above ground structure. Reason is simple. Tunnel is inside ground and will move with ground while above ground structure will resist earth's movement due to inertia. This resistance only caused bridge to collapse. That's why in this bridge design they have added features like buffers to have deck movement. I donot remember any tunnel getting damage due to earthquake.

[@nishu413]

But tunnels are way slow to make and waya way way more expensive. Last of not least , so scale which they have planned. They will need 3 tunnels. 1 rail tunnel and 2 road tunnels

[@damianl.3941]

Brilliant vid! I'm pretty impressed they replied to your emails, quite an impressive feat for our public offices

[@daviabraga]

Great content, especially about such a delicate topic for Italians! But it's funny that a "major chanel for construction" doesn't know how to present units. Following the SI general rules, it should say km/h, not kmph or simply km. Also, there's always a space between the figure and the unit, so when mentioning the wind speed you say 300 km/h, not 300km. Cheers!

[@felixfromearth]

Awesome video!

[@iFukuyama]

Wouldn't the two supports be on opposite sides of the fault line? Seems like a big deal to gloss over

[@matteofalduto766]

I've loved the football metaphor :) Just two minor notes about that: It should be Impreg-IL-o instead of Impreg-LI-o and Giuseppe Cont-E instead of Cont-I

[@Ignore_this_channel]

Italy should rebuild the roads they have neglected. Worst in Europe. And why not solve the trash problem? Such a disaster.

[@stijnhs]

Because almost all the trash in Italy is handled by the maffia who typically don't like being told what to do.

[@IntrinsicNRJ]

B1M soccer is innovating where FIFA never will. Viva B1M visual arts and B1MFC!

[@OhBelin]

To understand the fear Italians have about the bridge you need to know the history of the Salerno reggio calabria freeway

[@tank-eleven]

and the Morandi bridge

[@dad_jokes_4ever226]

What happened with that ?

[@ohhgodineedmoore2845]

@@dad_jokes_4ever226the bridge collapsed

[@bibekdas5595]

The B1M is the my favourite you tube channel

[@felineboy1586]

I think its shameful that one bridge is making so much trouble for such a developed country

[@GenaF]

i never thought the Chunnel would be built after the decades that was kicked around for, but it was so theres time for this bridge yet!

[@danielefabbro822]

By the way... it's funny how foreign press come out punctually with things like public debt of Italy like it's a thing to take into account or even considering it as a "doomering" things for our economy. Since the start of such "crisis" of the debt in 1980 till today, the public debt of Italy was owned almost esclusively by Italian economic actors. Basically we own our own debt. There's basically no way this will ever affect negatively our economy. It always makes me smile when I see such things. 🙂😝

[@Enrico-]

Foreign or domestic you still have to pay it

[@mpdirigent]

THAT animation. . . . was BRILLIANT.

[@baywesty]

After the Genoa Bridge scandal revelation, I think I will pass and take the ferry no matter what happens...

[@paxdriver]

I bet you were leary of making a video on a project that nobody will talk about, but this is one of my favourite vids you've made. The footy debriefing was amazing btw lol well done

[@MartijnPennings]

Please explain why Amsterdam, a city with 1900 bridges, has still not bridged the water between the center and the north, a peaceful body of water, not on any fault lines or in any wind tunnels, only 300 meters wide and instead opts for hundreds of ferries per day, moving more than 100,000 passengers per day....

[@xpehkto]

Isn't there a metro line under that place, which makes a bridge kind of unnecessary?

[@louisguilbault4694]

Very interesting. I especially liked the clever video soccer/football game showing how the project has been kicked between various politicians and organizations over the years.

[@SfnV95]

Also, both sides of the Strict are home to some of the most powerful Mafia families. That’s another very big reason why people aren’t in favour of the bridge.

[@gurkdoinwork]

lol that soccer section explaining the hiccups along the way was fantastic

[@monsterkillsports3499]

The 70% off the money for the construction of this bridge..will go to the hands of the ANDRANGHETA (calabria)first.. and then to the Sicilian MAFIA..

[@MainulWasTaken]

The Messina bridge will be a revolutionary project in the Italian history. May god help us to finally build this much needed bridge for the prosper of our nation AGAIN!!

[@MassiveBuild]

It was great as always, as you know this bridge has secrets

[@stevenlee3278]

That’s why the bridge is so big, it’s full of secrets

[@жопа_полный]

Dont worry I dont plan to. Kid@DontReadMyProfilePicture.57

[@shay7938]

Love the content. Got a video idea for ya. I’m in Gran Canaria at the moment and the highway they are building around the coast of the island is insane. I’m sure it would be an interesting research

[@stijnhs]

12 billion (which doesn't even include the long-term maintenance costs!) is a lot of money for the Italian treasury... Also the payback figures on these projects tend to be highly inflated to make the proposal a better sell to the taxpayers. Interesting project none the less from an engineering perspective.

[@hhh6400]

And usually in Italy if you start with12 billion they become 25 and not even sure it will be completed. Even if I try to set aside mafia and 'ndrangheta and other issues, there aren't good infrastrucrure in Calabria or Sicilia, wouldn't be more useful to spend those money for that?

[@lorenzofurnari]

the bridge costs 4 billion euro, all the other money is for infrastructure related or partially related to the bridge, redevelopment of Capo Peloro, Libeskind business centre, etc.

[@BP-zc2om]

Today I found out about this bridge, went on KZbin, of course the first video is by B1M 👌 The infrastructure authority on YT!

[@roberto6536]

In Sicily and Calabria routes, highways, railways are disastrous, building a bridge without resolving the other problems is like building a cathedral in the desert. With the same cost of the bridge you could resolve not only transport issues of the two regions but also public healt care problems and school system issues as well. After this, you could have also enough money to support the economy of the two regions. So the choice is to have a marvellous bridge and nothing else, or to use the same money to give a much better opportunity of life for the citizens of the two regions.

[@Arael_1]

tranquillo che tanto Sicilia e Calabria non risolvono niente anche senza il ponte

[@laotanfaji5728]

"sweeping in from the far right" is the most genius pun I've heard this year