Messina Bridge - Design Concept, from early Days to Present

This paper is aimed at highlighting the process that, in a period ranging from the late sixties to the new millennium, brought the design for a permanent crossing of the Messina Strait from early naïve ideas to a technically sound and well developed proposal, setting the basis for the present stage of the project. After a review of feasibility analyses and the assessment of alternatives that brought to the selection of a 3300 single span suspension bridge as the most suitable scheme for the crossing, the paper focuses on how two fundamental issue were tackled: i) ensuring the aerodynamic stability on such a span; ii) keeping quantities and hence costs as low as possible, as the basis for a financially viable planning [1].