The Russian government has started to build a bridge over Kamchatka River at the spot of the 168th km of the Milkovo-Klyuchi-Ust-Kamchatsky highway, local media reported on Tuesday.

"The first bridge pile has been already driven on the left bank of the river," Kamchatka Governor Aleksei Kuzmitsky was quoted by local media as saying.

The governor said the bridge project, the largest of its kind on Kamchatka Peninsula, could be "the construction project of the 21st century."

He added that the bridge "will play a hugely important role in socio-economic development of the region."

The bridge, when completed and put into operation in 2012, will connect the peninsula with Ust-Kamchatsky district, thus increasing transport accessibility and capacity.

The bridge will cost some 58.8 million U.S. dollars, although the government has cut investment in infrastructure projects in the Russian Far East, said the governor.

The bridge, including approaches, will be 1,833-meter long, with the main bridge spanning 445 meters. The eight-meter-wide highway bridge will see 63-meter-long spans.