A project to build a highway across the lake was initiated in the 1970s but was abandoned after the Iranian Revolution of 1979, although a 15 km (9.3 mi) causeway with an unbridged gap had already been completed.

The highly saline environment is already causing heavy rusting of the steel on the bridge, despite anti-corrosion treatment.

[2] Multisensor InSAR analysis from 4 different satellite sensors (i.e. Envisat, ALOS-1, TerraSAR-X and Sentinel-1) in a period of 13 years (2004-2017) revealed that a long-term consolidation on the causeway is present.

[3] Environmentalists have warned that the construction of the causeway for the bridge, along with other ecological factors, will contribute to the drying up of Lake Urmia, turning it into an inland salt marsh, and adversely affecting the climate of the region.

They state that the 1,276 metres (4,186 ft) gap in the causeway is not wide enough to permit adequate flow between the two portions of the lake.