<P> A construction consortium led by Impregilo S.p.A. was chosen in 2005, with actual construction set to begin in the second half of 2006 . The bridge was designed by Danish architects at Dissing + Weitling in close collaboration with the Danish engineering firm COWI . </P> <P> On 27 March 2006, Impregilo and Stretto di Messina announced that they had signed a contract assigning final project planning to a General Contractor . Impregilo S.p.A., the lead partner had a 45% share . Other participants were Spain's Sacyr S.A. (18.70%), the Italian companies Società Italiana per Condotte D'Acqua S.p.A. (15%) and Cooperativa Muratori & Cementisti - C.M.C. of Ravenna (13%), Japan's Ishikawajima - Harima Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. (6.30%), and Consorzio Stabile A.C.I.S.c.p.a (2%). The General Contractor would also be assisted by the Danish and Canadian companies COWI A / S, Sund & Baelt A / S and Buckland & Taylor Ltd., who would handle project engineering . Completion was projected to take six years, at a projected cost of € 3.9 billion . The first task of the General Contractor was to draw up the final project . </P> <P> On 12 October 2006, the Italian Parliament voted 272 to 232 in favour of abandoning the plan due to the bridge's "doubtful usefulness and viability", as well as the inability of the already burdened Italian treasury to bear its share of the cost . Additionally, transport minister Alessandro Bianchi pointed out that the road and rail links leading to the location of the proposed bridge are not capable of supporting enough traffic to make the bridge profitable . Other reasons for abandoning the plan were earthquake risk and fears that much of the funds would be diverted to the criminal organisations Cosa Nostra and Ndrangheta . </P> <P> On 15 April 2008, Silvio Berlusconi was re-elected prime minister of Italy and vowed to restart the project to build the bridge . The following month, Altero Matteoli, Italy's minister of infrastructure and transport confirmed the government's intent to restart work on the bridge in a letter to Pietro Ciucci, the president of Società Stretto di Messina . </P>

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