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 World Wildlife Fund (WWF), "France Nature Environnement", the national federation of motorway users, and Environmental Action. Opponents advanced several arguments: Two weeks after the laying of the first stone on December 14, 2001, the workers started digging the deep shafts. There were four shafts per pylon; deep and in diameter, assuring the stability of the pylons. At the bottom of each pylon, a tread of in thickness was installed to reinforce the effect of the deep shafts. The of concrete necessary for the treads was poured at the same time. In March 2002, the pylons emerged from the ground. The