There's going to be new superbridge

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A.� Oh yes - and this one's going to be even bigger than the Akashi-Kaikyo bridge in Japan, which is the world's largest.< xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

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Q.� Where and what

A.� After decades of debate, the Italian government is planning to build a bridge linking Italy and Sicily. It will become the world's longest single-span suspension bridge. It will cross the Strait of Messina with a two-mile (3.3km) span, beating the Akashi-Kaikyo bridge in Japan, built in 1998, which spans nearly 2km between its towers.

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Q.� Strait of Messina Isn't there something mythical about that

A.� Yes - you remember Odysseus's encounter with the six-headed monster, Scylla and the whirlpool called Charybdis In reality, it's a stretch of sea with fast-running currents and jagged rocks, much feared by seamen.

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Q.� And how much will this great bridge cost

A.� About $5 billion.

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Q.� That's a lot, isn't it

A.� Yes - too much, say some critics. However, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi enjoys such a comfortable majority that the spending is likely to be approved. Environmentalists say it's expensive compared with the cost of improving the ferry service, and it will disturb the coastal and marine life of the region. It also might be vulnerable in an area at high risk from earthquakes.

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The plan is part of Berlusconi's election promise to improve the nation's infrastructure and create tens of thousands of jobs. The bankers aren't too keen on it, though.

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Q.� Why

A.� Massimo Ponzellini, vice-president of the European Investment Bank, thought it would be better to invest in improving rail links within Sicily rather than building the bridge. He said: 'It's certainly not a project that would resolve the problems of Sicily and [the southern mainland region of] Calabria.' Spending more than $5 billion to build a bridge to 'a region where running water is only provided during certain hours' should not be a priority.

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Q.� How long will it take

A.� Construction of the Messina bridge is scheduled to begin in the first half of 2004 and expected to take about seven years. A fixed link was declared a 'prevailing national interest' in 1971. Then, however, it was impossible to conceive of such a daring structure.

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Q.� Why now

A.� Bridges are becoming longer because the use of computers allows engineers to calculate the physical forces with greater accuracy and because of techniques that can isolate the bridge base to withstand seismic shocks. Italian engineers and steelmakers have gathered excellent experience to carry out the Messina project after their collaboration in designing and building similar structures, including the Great Belt bridge over the Kattegatt, between Denmark and Sweden.

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Q.� Have their been other plans to bridge the Messina strait

A.� Ever since the Punic Wars, when the Roman consul Gaius Cecilio Metello thought of marching elephants across a timber bridge.

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Q.� If the Messina project is a success, what other bridges might be built

A.� Other grand schemes are in the pipeline: to span the strait of Gibraltar dividing Europe and Africa; cross the Dardanelles from Europe to Asia Minor; and even link the main islands of Indonesia.

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Steve Cunningham