Italy to approve world's largest suspension bridge

Rome: Italy s government is to give final approval Wednesday to a 13.5 billion euro ($15.6 billion) project to build the world s longest suspension br...

Rome: Italy's government is to give final approval Wednesday to a 13.5-billion-euro ($15.6-billion) project to build the world's longest suspension bridge, connecting the island of Sicily to the mainland.

Deputy Prime Minister and Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini said a ministerial committee will back the state-funded bridge over the Strait of Messina, marking a "page in history" following decades of planning.

The bridge has been designed with two railway lines in the middle and three lanes of traffic on either side, with a suspended span of 3.3 kilometers (2.05 miles) -- a world record -- stretching between two 400-metre (1,300 feet) high towers.

Due for completion by 2032, the government says the bridge is at the cutting edge of engineering, able to withstand high winds and earthquakes in a region that lies across two tectonic plates.

Ministers hope it will bring economic growth and jobs to two impoverished Italian regions -- Sicily and Calabria on the mainland -- with Salvini promising the project will create tens of thousands of jobs.