A Greek lesson.

The article discusses the bridge-construction industry in Europe and the role of the European Union. Europe has recently been building spectacular bridges as eagerly as America once did: Britain's second Severn bridge was completed in 1996; Portugal's second Tagus one in 1998; Denmark's island-hopping Storebaelt East bridge in 1998, with a 1.6km main span, at the time the longest ever; the Oresund bridge joining Denmark and Sweden in 2000. More are to come: recently aired, a new down-river Thames crossing; and, on paper since 2002, the mother of all bridges, a 3.3km suspension bridge which, from 2011--supposedly--will join Sicily to the Italian mainland. All this bridge-building is good news for the contractors. France has two of Europe's big four construction firms: Vinci, lead partner in the new Greek bridge (as earlier in the Tagus one), and Bouygues. With Skanska, leader of the Oresund consortium, and Germany's Hochtief, these are a formidable quartet. By turnover, reckons International Construction magazine, Vinci and Skanska lead the world, and all four are in the top eight, with three firms from Japan (ever addicted to costly public works) and, perhaps surprisingly, only Bechtel from America. European Union finance is one reason for this unlikely European leadership. EU funds go into many construction projects in poorer regions, even in rich countries. Under EU rules, all public-works contracts must be open to all EU firms equally. Yet visible prestige symbols such as giant bridges usually go to local firms or locally led consortia. That was true of the two French projects cited above. It will probably be true of the bridge to Sicily. Outside contractors can and do compete in EU countries. Bechtel is involved both in the Channel link and in London's Underground. Spending a fortune on such giant projects may be great for the construction industry. Whether it is a good use of taxpayers' money is less clear.