The Strait of Messina Bridge Project - Essay Example

?Civil Engineering Project Civil engineering projects involve constructing and renovating a structure or alteration done in the environment. An alteration in the environment can involve improving the condition of a beach so as to protect the coastline. A civil engineering project may involve beginning a non-existed project to meet a requirement of to solve a certain issue. It may also involve upgrading he projects already in existence to solve upcoming problems from the project. The management of a civil engineering project involves a high level of documentation. Management of the project involves supervision and coordinating staff, acting a source and connecting with clients. The Strait of Messina Bridge Project The project overview The Strait of Messina bridge project was started in the year 2006 and was designed to end in 2008. Due to problems to do with finance and project budget terminated as suggested by Porter and Prince (2009). However with the election Silvio Berlusconi as the prime minister in 2008, the project was revived the same year. Once Messina bridge project is completed, it will become one of the longest suspension bridges to have been built in the world. The Messina Bridge will be sixty meters wide with twelve traffic lanes and two middle lanes for trains. It will therefore allow about one hundred and forty thousand vehicles and two hundred trains to use the bridge in a day. However there has been a debate of whether the bridge will stand earthquakes and also about its impacts to the environment. The project is still on construction and it has been designed to complete by 2012. The context of the project The historical context of the Strait of Messina Bridge has been covered with several events. In 1969, different concepts of the bridge construction were offered for competition and among them was the cable-stayed design which later brought the issue of this project. Around 1979, a committee was set up and came up with a study for the crossing bridge as suggested by Lane (2010). Five years later a company by the name Stretto di Messina was established which came up with three ways to construct the bridge. The different ways were, one the suspension bridge, second the floating tunnel and finally the bored tunnel. Evidence was gathered from different experts who dismissed the ideas of the tunnel and advocated for the suspension bridge. The decision on the construction of the bridge raised a lot politically heated debates in Italy. Those supporting the decision argued that it created employment and boosted tourism. Those against it argued that it was unnecessary and the government would first focus on the roads more efficient. Some geological concerns were about the history of earthquakes in area would be a challenge to the project. Seismic-tectonic and wind conditions context has also been focused on. The ability of the bridge to overcome seismic effects and wind has been an issue of concern. The bridge once completed will be open fulltime without any traffic interruption due to strong winds. It will use special wind protection barriers capable of maintaining normal traffic movement even in the case of strong wind. The bridge has aerodynamic properties that give it the ability to withstand wind of any speed. In as far as seismic activities are concerned; the bridge has a natural insulation. This natural insulation makes the bridge insensitive to earthquakes. The structure is insulated against physical possibilities such as vibration. According to Simonis (2010), the Messina Bridge is designed to overcome an extreme earthquake which has a magnitude of about 7.1 being focused at about fifteen kilometers from the site of the bridge. The environmental aspects of the Messina Bridge have caused resentment on the local people and a lot of protest. These aspects include the construction’s impact on the local wildlife and the traditional and poor structure of the region. Some measures have been taken to reduce the environmental impact of the project activities. These include using the tunnel’s waste materials to fill the queries from which mining has been made. Design and construction Two pillars with a height of three hundred and eighty two will support the bridge. The bridge will have two lanes for the motors and ad lane for emergency in all directions. It is also designed to have two-track railway and two separate and independent lanes set out for service traffic as well as pedestrians. The bridge is designed to be 3,666 m long with the two sides of the suspension having a width of sixty meters as suggested by Porter and Prince (2009). It is comprised of three box sections. Two of the box sections are laterally for roadway check while the remaining one is central and is for the railway tracks. The two towers have their height set at 386.2 m providing a clearance for navigation 65m high and 600m wide. The suspension of the system of the bridge will have two pairs of steel cables. The bridge is also designed to withstand high magnitude earthquake as well as strong winds. Evaluation of the Project The Messina bridge project that was to link Sicily and Italy has been seen as one of the most interesting feature of engineering in the twenty first century. The project is funded with a capital increase of around 2.5 billion sterling pounds which adds up to forty percent of total cost of the project. This amount will be injected during the progress of the project. The rest which is sixty percent is funded by project finance loans which are acquired from international market. The Messina bridge project was started under the management of Parsons Transportation Group who are known as international leaders in construction of such bridges. This group is mandated to review and verify the project from its start to the end. With the plans of the new Italian prime minister the project appeared to be non-existence. The bridge is believed to assist in reduction of in infrastructural deficit in the southern part of the country. Those who supported the bridge construction argued that it would contribute to economic growth. They also believed that it would contribute to the regional social regeneration hence promoting road integration. In 2006 there was a controversy in the cabinet over the construction of the bridge as it was viewed to waste lots of the government’s fund as suggested by Andersen (2006). However after the election of Prodi as the Prime Minister a motion was held, Prodi won against the bridge. The newly elected minister for infrastructure warned that terminating the contract would cost a lot to the taxpayer. This was in compensation for the contractors. The main reason behind canceling the project was that Italian treasury could not afford to share the cost. Another argument that was against the project was that the transport networks on both sides of the strait could not support traffic that made the bridge necessary. The risk of earthquakes occurring also contributed to the decision behind scrapping the Messina bridge project. There was also the danger of increased criminal activities encouraged by the improved transport systems. With the return of Berlusconi to power in the year 2008, he revived the project and the construction is ongoing. Comparing With the Strait Of Messina Bridge with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge Compared with Sunshine Skyway Bridge, the strait of Messina bridge is more developed in its design of construction. One of the differences between the two bridges is that the Messina Bridge is a suspension bridge while the sunshine skyway bridge is cable stayed bridge according to Jurado, Hernandez, Nieto and Mosquera (2011). The sunshine skyway bridge is located in Florida USA while Messina bridge is located in Italy. The sunshine skyway bridge is the longest bridge in the world which has cable-stayed concrete. As opposed to the current Messina Bridge, it has its unique cables which are colored with a bright taxicab yellow. The sunshine skyway bridge is the longest and compared to Messina Bridge. The skyway bridge has a length of 8.85 km while The Messina Bridge has a length of 3.67 km. It is also wider than the Messina bridge as it has a width of 94m compared to that of Messina, 60m.However the Messina bridge has a the highest clearance both vertically and horizontal with 65m high and 600m wide while skyway has clearance of 53m high and 59 wide. The skyway bridge was constructed for roadway transport purposes as opposed to Messina bridge which serves both railway and roadway transport. The construction of the two bridges has been faced with some failure. On one hand, the Messina Bridge was affected by political debates which have led to its delay in completion. On the other hand, the sunshine skyway bridge initially known as the Tampa Bridge was affected by thunderstorm and it collapsed. After collapsing then the sunshine skyway bridge was constructed to replace it. Conclusion The analysis of both suspension bridges and cable-stayed bridges can be done using a three dimensional finite element models that adopt beam elements. In analysis one should bear in mind that the increased amount of repeated calculations that needs to be done requires a moderate number of degrees of freedom. The major mechanical and geometric properties of a bridge should be well examined. These types of bridge have great technical challenges due their great dimensions as well as slenderness. References Andersen, J. (2006). Structural Health Monitoring Systems. Denmark: Jacob Egede Andersen. Jurado, J, Hernandez, S, Nieto, F. & Mosquera, A. (2011). Bridge Aeroelasticity: Sensitivity Analysis and Optimum Design. Southampton: WIT Press. Lane, D. (2010). Into the Heart of the Mafia: A Journey Through the Italian South. London: Profile Books. Porter, D.& Prince, D. (2009). Frommer's Sicily. New York NY: Frommer's. Simonis, D. (2010). Italy. Delhi: Lonely Planet. Read More