Strait of Messina
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Photos by Pat Tyler
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
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The Northeast Edge of Sicily
It's 10:27 AM, a perfect time to see the sights in this scenic area.
The strait is a couple of miles wide at this point.
A freighter crosses what may be a future bridge site.
The Strait of Messina Bridge is a suspension bridge that is being planned to cross the Strait of Messina. If completed, it will be the largest in the world.
The bridge will be an alternative to ferry service between Messina, Sicily and the mainland at Villa San Giovanni in Calabria and hydrofoil service from Messina to Reggio di Calabria.
Current plan The current plan calls for single-span suspension bridge with a central span of 3,300 meters (about 2 miles). This would be more than 60% larger than the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge in Japan (1,991 meters), currently the largest suspension bridge in the world.
Plans call for six traffic lanes (two driving lanes and one emergency lane in each direction), two railway tracks and two pedestrian sidewalks. The height of the two towers will be 382.6 meters in order to provide a minimum vertical clearance for navigation of 65 meters.
Pilot Boat
This strait is narrow enough to demand that ships use a local pilot to navigate the area
while the passengers check out the sights.
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