Construction of a controversial suspension bridge connecting the Mediterranean island of Sicily to the Italian mainland will begin in three years' time and should be completed by 2010... If it is ever built, the bridge will be one of the biggest and most costly public-works projects ever undertaken in Italy. The latest estimate is $4.5 billion, but interest payments could drive this figure up considerably. The government plans to get private investment to cover more than half the total cost in exchange for toll fees... The bridge will be five kilometres long and its central span -- supported by four steel cables each nearly a metre-and-a-half in diameter -- will measure over three kilometres. It will rise 64m above sea level and will contain a double six-lane highway and four tracks for a new high-speed railway line planned to link the Sicilian capital, Palermo, with the rest of Italy... Italy's Green Party said it was ridiculous to spend such astronomic sums on the bridge when many Sicilians remained without a proper water supply and the island's roads are badly in need of modernisation.
This reminds me of when, back in the 70s, Gov Gilligan of Ohio wanted to build a bridge across Lake Erie to Canada. Just not a good idea.