This project underwent an initial feasibility test more than a decade ago. If this project is to progress, it may incur a whopping construction cost of more than 52 billion ringgit (US$12.67 billion). This proposed bridge may reach the length of 127.92 kilometers from one end to the other, stimulating economic growth for both countries. Teluk Gong in Malacca is the Malaysian terminus for the bridge and it ends at the port city of Dumai in Riau province.

The proposed Strait of Malacca Bridge is likely to resemble the Oresund Bridge that connects the Danish capital of Copenhagen in Denmark and Malmo in Sweden. When the construction of the bridge over Oresund Sound was proposed, it received adverse criticism from the shipping community as it was thought that it would hamper shipping flow in the Oresund Sound. As a result, Germany asked the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to suspend construction of the bridge.

As a compromise, Sweden suggested that the bridge should be designed in two features; half a bridge and half a tunnel. This compromise was advocated to allow bigger ships to navigate across the Oresund Sound. It subsequently increased the construction expenditure of the bridge to three times more than the cost that was budgeted for in the original plan.

It is anticipated that such a huge project would not only adversely affect the coastal ecosystems on both shores of the bridge; it would also affect the Strait as a whole, from hydrological, environmental and economic perspectives. The movement and speed of currents would be changed by the existence of pillars holding up the bridge and could potentially alter the nature of the Strait.

From the environmental perspective, the project would encroach the nesting grounds of the penyu karah (hawksbill turtle) as the construction site of the bridge on the Malaysian side would be around Padang Kemunting, an important nesting area for this species of marine animal. Given the fact that construction of the bridge would itself alter the seabed ecosystems of the strait, it has the potential to negatively impact fisheries activities and marine and coastal tourism in that area.

Its construction would have the effect of closing down a large portion of the traffic separation scheme (TSS) areas of the Strait of Malacca, which would result in potential navigational hazards for ships and thus, hamper traffic flow through the waterway.

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