Cable-stayed span would replace adjacent suspension bridge, which is overused a corroded.

Scotland's regional government earlier this month approved plans to build a mutli-span cable-stayed road bridge over the Firth of Forth waterway at an estimated cost of up to $8.4 billion.

With two 650-m cable-stayed main spans, the crossing near Edinburgh will augment and ultimately replace the 43-year-old adjacent suspension bridge which is overused and suffering cable corrosion. The new crossing will include provision for a future mass transit. With construction lasting 66 months planned to start in 2011, a design team will be named soon.