Strait of Messina Bridge have made the span more than 60% longer than the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge in Japan—the largest suspension bridge in the world at . Plans called for four traffic lanes (two driving lanes and one emergency lane in each direction), two railway tracks and two pedestrian lanes. In order to provide a minimum vertical clearance for navigation of , the height of the two towers was to be . This would have been taller than the Millau Viaduct in France (currently the tallest bridge in the world at ). The bridge's suspension system would have relied on two pairs of steel cables,
Millau Viaduct each high, and weighing around , are set on top of the concrete pylons. Between each of them, eleven stays (metal cables) are anchored, providing support for the road deck. Each mast of the Viaduct is equipped with a monoaxial layer of eleven pairs of cable-stays; laid face to face. Depending on their length, the cable stays were made of 55 to 91 high tensile steel cables, or strands, themselves formed of seven strands of steel (a central strand with six intertwined strands). Each strand has triple protection against corrosion (galvanisation, a coating of petroleum wax, and an extruded polyethylene