Designer said the bridge - expected to be built in one of the most seismically active areas in the Mediterranean - would be resilient to earthquakes.
This is the latest effort by Italian officials to launch the Messina bridge project in the context of many previous governments having tried for many years but the plans were later canceled due to concerns about costs, environmental damage, safety or potential intervention by the mafia.
On August 6, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni admitted that this latest project was not easy, but affirmed that this was an "investment in the present and future of Italy".
"We like difficult challenges when they have meaning," Meloni said.
According to the plan, the bridge across the Messina Strait will be 3.3km long and will rise over 2 towers 400m high, with 2 railway lines in the middle and 3 lanes on each side.
The Italian government even hopes that the Messina bridge project will be classified as a military expenditure, to be included in NATO's target of spending 5% of GDP on defense.
Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini, leader of the Lega right wing and an ally of Prime Minister Meloni, celebrated the milestone, saying the goal is to complete the bridge between 2032 and 2033.
Mr. Salvini also said that the bridge will create 120,000 jobs per year and bring economic growth to the region, especially Italy and Calabria - 2 of the poorest regions in Europe.
