By Angelo Amante
ROME (Reuters) -The Italian government is expected to give the green light for a multibillion-euro bridge between Sicily and the mainland next week, paving the way for construction work to finally start on the long-awaited project, a source said on Monday.
The source, who asked not to be named, said the meeting of the CIPESS economic planning committee to approve the bridge had yet to be scheduled but was expected to take place by August 7.
A stable connection across the Strait of Messina has been talked about since Roman times, but the project appeared to have been killed off for good in 2013, when the company created to oversee its construction was closed down in a government austerity drive.
It was resuscitated under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who set aside 13.5 billion euros ($15.7 billion) to build a suspension bridge 3.6 kilometres (2.2 miles) long between the Sicilian city of Messina and the Calabria region.
According to the Messina Strait company, which oversees the project, approval from CIPESS will pave the way for preliminary works such as land expropriations, and archaeological and geological surveys.
A consortium led by Italy’s Webuild is responsible for the construction, which is scheduled for completion in 2032, more than 60 years after the country organised an international contest to receive proposals for the bridge.
“There is a lot of attention around the world, everyone is looking at the Messina Bridge, and asking us about it,” WeBuild CEO Pietro Salini said last week presenting the group’s financial results for the first half of the year.
($1 = 0.8578 euros)
(Reporting by Angelo Amante, editing by Alvise Armellini and Giles Elgood)
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