"This video contains paid promotion for Brilliant." (also note, YT has moved transcripts into the description, assuming one is available)Italy's $12BN Bridge Mystery | 10:39
The B1M | 2.99M subscribers | 448,274 views | September 13, 2023
Transcript 0:00 · This is the Strait of Messina, a thin strip of water which separates Sicily 0:04 · from mainland Italy ... and this is the Strait of Messina bridge. 0:10 · When completed it will turn a 40 minute ferry journey into just a four minute drive. In doing 0:16 · so, it could make Sicily a global supply chain hub, create an unbroken highway 0:21 · across a continent and transform the economy of Italy's historically poorer southern half. 0:28 · But, not all is as it seems ... This isn't actually the official bridge design. We 0:34 · weren't able to get permission to show you the real one. And even though there 0:37 · was a big announcement about it back in March, no-one has been willing to talk to us about it. 0:42 · It's almost like there's an omerta over the bridge which has become an icon of failure in Italy. 0:51 · But despite this, there are hushed whispers that the bridge, 0:54 · which was first put forward in Roman times, could finally go ahead, 0:58 · or could it be that this infamous stretch of water is a bridge too far? 1:03 · This is the strange story of one of Italy's most controversial structures. 1:13 · Here at The B1M we know what it takes to construct a megaproject. Build something 1:18 · of any considerable size and you'll usually run into one of two problems: the fiendishly complex 1:23 · engineering of something like the Fehmarn Belt tunnel, or the intractable politics of the kind 1:28 · that has derailed Britain's HS2. The Strait of Messina Bridge has run into both of them. 1:33 · We'll come to the politics in a bit, but first the engineering. The current design 1:38 · for the Messina Strait Bridge is nothing if not ambitious. 1:41 · This stretch of water gave birth to the legend of Scylla and Charibdys, 1:45 · the mythological monsters that smash ships against rocks and drown sailors in whirlpools. 1:50 · As you might guess, that came around because the Strait of Messina is a violent stretch of water. 2:01 · It has two alternative currents strong strong enough to rip seaweed from the 2:06 · seabed and can experience gales up to 100 kilometres per hour. 2:10 · And if that wasn't enough, it also lies right in the middle of the fault line 2:15 · between the African and Eurasian tectonic plates. 2:18 · In 1908, the strait was at the epicentre of a 7.1 2:22 · magnitude earthquake which killed up to 82,000 people. 2:26 · So, how on earth do you build a bridge here? 2:30 · Well, we can't show you the official designs – we'll come 2:33 · to that shortly – but don't worry because we've drawn it instead. 2:37 · The plan is for a single span suspension bridge running from 2:40 · Torre Faro in Sicily to Villa San Giovanni on the Italian mainland. 2:44 · The single span solves the first issue the bridge faces, 2:48 · by not placing a pier in the strait, it saves the team having to contend with strong 2:53 · currents during construction and removes any obstacles to shipping once complete. 2:57 · Placing the towers on shore also gives them a firmer footing to withstand seismic activity, 3:03 · but to withstand an earthquake, more features are needed. The bridge will be fitted with a buffer, 3:08 · allowing the deck to flex and the whole thing will be kept in place by 3:12 · two anchors containing over five and a half million cubic metres of concrete and steel. 3:17 · But while that solves the issue of currents and quakes, 3:20 · it actually creates another problem: this bridge is gonna be enormous. 3:25 · When it's completed this will easily be the longest suspension bridge in the world, 3:30 · beating the current title holder, Turkey's Çanakkale Bridge, by over a kilometre. 3:35 · That leaves a huge area exposed to the strait's famously extreme winds. One 3:41 · way this is being compensated for is with an innovative deck design. 3:45 · Instead of one single deck, the bridge will comprise three separate boxes, 3:49 · two for roads and one for rail. These will be reinforced by crossbeams every 30 metres. 3:55 · The shallow wedge of the boxes deflects oncoming wind and pushes it up through the gaps in between. 4:00 · That's gonna help the bridge survive wind speeds of up to 300 kilometres per hour. 4:07 · Now, before we get into what the bridge actually looks like, you should know that for any architect 4:12 · or an engineer designing something like this, they need a good knowledge of a range of STEM subjects. 4:16 · But don't worry if you've struggled learning these through traditional schooling. There's 4:21 · actually a really fun and easy way to learn about STEM for free to start. 4:24 · A good grasp of calculus is essential for any engineer. This week's video sponsor, Brilliant, 4:30 · has courses that easily break down complex concepts into quick, easy to follow lessons. 4:35 · It's a great way of visualising problems and solutions, such as 4:39 · understanding formulas for scaling up shapes. 4:41 · But if calculus isn't your thing then don't worry, Brilliant has thousands of lessons 4:46 · over widely different subject areas like probability and computer science, 4:51 · all of which are great for helping you level up your career or setting yourself a new challenge. 4:56 · To get started, try a free 30 day offer by visiting brilliant.org/TheB1M or by clicking 5:02 · the link in the description. The first 200 people to sign up will receive a 20% discount 5:07 · off their annual subscription. 5:09 · Now let's get back to the bridge. If all the engineering challenges have been solved, 5:18 · why hasn't it been built and why can't we show you what it's going to look like? 5:23 · Well, while the bridge is a masterclass in 5:25 · how the power of engineering can seemingly overcome any challenge, 5:29 · it's also a cautionary tale in how politics can turn the possible into the impossible. 5:35 · Many Italians are weary about the prospect of the bridge being built, which is no surprise 5:40 · as the project has been kicked around like a political football for decades. 5:45 · Ok, let's try and do this as quickly as possible: 5:48 · In 1969, a design competition kicked off the official interest to build the bridge. 5:52 · It got passed around for a while until the official Messina Strait Company was 5:56 · set up in 1981. Preliminary work dribbled around for a couple of decades until 2005, 5:59 · when it was passed to an official consortium featuring architects Dissing + Weitling, 6:03 · engineers COWI and construction firm Impreglio – now Webuild. 6:06 · They crossed it to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and planned to start work the next 6:09 · year, but in May 2006 Berlusconi was kicked out of office and in October the plan was struck down by 6:13 · the Italian parliament. But, by 2008, Berlusconi was back in power and the bridge was back on. 6:17 · But Berlusconi only lasted three years in office and in 2011 the bridge was once again axed by his 6:22 · successor Mario Monti. But then in 2016 Monti's successor's successor Matteo Renzi intercepted the 6:26 · project and promised to reconsider, but forgot all about it and the bridge went out of play. 6:29 · In 2020 the bridge was thrown back in by another PM, Giuseppe Conti. Things didn't 6:32 · look good when in 2021 his government collapsed and a year later in 2022 when his successor's 6:37 · government also collapsed. But earlier this year, sweeping in from the far right, 6:40 · is new PM Giorgia Meloni and transport minister Matteo Salvini who signed a decree ordering the 6:44 · bridge's construction and calling it "a historic day for Italy" and "the dream of millions". 6:49 · So the bridge is currently back with the government in Rome. In July, 6:54 · Salvini confirmed the bridge had been included in the 2024 budget but beyond that, 6:59 · details on the progress of the bridge are hard to come by. 7:02 · The Italian transport ministry didn't respond to our request for comment, and neither the Messina 7:07 · Strait company or construction company Webuild could add any further detail. 7:11 · Maybe people are afraid of jinxing it, but it seems like nobody wants 7:15 · to talk about the bridge. Our request for images was passed around various 7:19 · departments without any luck, hence we've had to improvise. 7:23 · Currently the bridge exists more in the public imagination than in reality. These 7:28 · images were created by this Sicilian architect to create a conversation about the mythology of 7:34 · the bridge – we're gonna come back to him later – and in this 2022 TV show, 7:39 · the bridge has already been built and destroyed. 7:44 · It's not hard to understand why people are nervous about it. The bridge is super 7:49 · controversial. At the last count the estimate for the bridge construction 7:52 · and support infrastructure on either side sat at USD $12.6BN. 7:58 · There's long been concern over whether the heavily indebted Italian Treasury 8:02 · could afford the bridge. And critics of the project say the could be better spent 8:07 · upgrading the region's notoriously poor existing road infrastructure. 8:11 · "We have just driven nearly 400 kilometres with seemingly never ending stretches of roadworks" 8:18 · Others have also feared the role corruption could 8:20 · play in allowing organised crime groups to infiltrate the project. 8:24 · But for the bridge's 8:28 · supporters it's about more than the estimated €2.9 billion a year it will add to the Italian economy 8:34 · A bridge between Sicily and Italy is an ancient dream that dates back to Roman times. 8:41 · Imagining connecting these two lands would mean demonstrating that technology has reached high 8:49 · levels of efficiency, because the Messina bridge would be the largest ever built in the world. 8:56 · I think the Messina bridge would be a great engineering pride for Italy. 9:01 · This is Adriano Marchisciana, a Sicilian architect who designed his own version of the bridge, 9:08 · to increase a sense of national pride and add to the mythology of this place. 9:13 · My design proposal was born as a search for a relationship with the mythological memory 9:20 · of the site. Homer tells us that two gigantic monsters, Scylla and Caribdi, 9:27 · lived in the Strait of Messina. They tormented the navigators who passed through that place. 9:34 · Finding a relationship with history and myth means giving meaning to this enormous work, 9:42 · which in any case will have a great impact on the landscape. 9:48 · It remains to be seen whether this latest attempt to build the bridge will succeed 9:53 · but it's safe to say its legend isn't going anywhere any time soon. 9:58 · This video was sponsored by Brilliant. You can join them with a special offer at the link below. 10:03 · Don't forget that we're inspiring the next generation of builders 10:06 · through our investment into Brick Borrow, a fantastic lego subscription service. You 10:11 · can learn more and get started today over at brickborrow.com 10:14 · And as always guys, if you enjoyed this video and you want to get more from the 10:19 · definitive video channel for construction, make sure you're subscribed to The B1M.