A special working committee was formed to determine the location and specify the technical requirements. Construction would take five years and cost between $1.5 and $3 billion, according to Ukraine's Ministry of Economic Development and Trade. The ministry said in a statement that it expected the project to be completed by 2015.
The first section of the bridge, over the Strait of Kerch, was opened for traffic on November 30, 2014. The full length of the bridge was opened for traffic a year later on November 29, 2015.
It is now the longest single-span suspension bridge in Europe and the third longest in the world behind only the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and the Morandi Bridge in Italy. It is also the first Ukrainian-built bridge to enter European territory when it was opened to traffic.
The original plan called for two other sections of the bridge to be built simultaneously with the first one. However, due to financial difficulties many construction projects have been halted or cancelled since then. The second phase of the project was scheduled to begin four months after the first one was completed but it too has been postponed until further notice.
In February 2016, Russia's RIA news agency reported that the second phase of the project would not go ahead because funding had been denied by Kiev.
A Russian Kamov chopper carried the complete building into place after it was manufactured. The 1.2 million-dollar edifice took a year to build and was completed in February 2005. It links the island of Langkawi to the Malaysian mainland, crossing over the Langkawi Skyway.
The structure is made up of three parts: the road deck, the bridge tower and the cable-stayed section connecting the two. The road deck is about 30 meters (100 feet) wide and high. The tower is about 70 meters (230 feet) high and the cable-stayed section connects them. The whole thing weighs about 14,000 tons. There are actually four such bridges being constructed along the Trans-Malaysian Railway, which will connect Kuala Lumpur with Singapore and Thailand.
The bridge is open to traffic, but only local vehicles are allowed across it. No cars, only buses. However, motorbikes are permitted.
It's not for tourists, unfortunately. But if you're going to Langkawi, do check out this amazing bridge!
Four (4) years The region's imagination was grabbed by its creation. It took nearly four years and 8,100 tons of structural steel, 44,100 cubic yards of concrete, and more than 160 kilometers of cable to complete. The bridge is a cable-stayed construction, one of the longest in North America. It has two decks: an upper deck for vehicle traffic and a lower deck for pedestrian and bicycle traffic. The main span is 1,870 feet long and there are three other smaller bridges attached to it.
The world's longest single-span suspension bridge is also located in Canada. The Prince Rupert Bridge connects British Columbia with the province of Yukon. It has a main span of 2,225 feet and was built in 1997.
Another famous Canadian bridge is the Saint Lawrence Seaway Bridge. It connects Ontario with New York State and has two parts: a vertical lift bridge and a tubular bridge. The lift part is 303 feet high and can be raised to allow large ships to pass under it. The tubular section is six miles long and made of precast segments that were joined together on site.
Finally, there is the St. Clair Avenue Bridge over the Detroit River. This bridge connects Windsor, Ontario with Detroit, Michigan.