Italy's government on Wednesday approved a controversial 13.5-billion-euro ($15.6-billion) project to build what would be the world's longest suspension bridge connecting the island of Sicily to the mainland.

A long-delayed and debated span linking the Italian mainland with Sicily cleared a major hurdle Wednesday, allowing work to begin on what would be the world's longest suspension bridge.

Italy’s government was set on Wednesday to give the final approval to the multi-billion-euro project to build a bridge connecting Sicily to the mainland, paving the way for works to begin after decades of discussions.