Towers Complete for Longest Suspension Bridge
Construction of the two 318-meter-high towers for Turkey’s 1915 Canakkale Bridge, set to be the longest suspension bridge in the world, is now complete, according to reports.
Also known as the Canakkale Strait Bridge, the structure will span the Dardanelles strait, about 10 kilometers south of the Sea of Marmara, and will have a 2,023-meter-long (over 6,600-foot-long) main span, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the foundation of modern Turkey.
About the Project
The 1 billion-pound 1915 Canakkale Bridge and Highway project was named to mark a major Turkish victory against British and other allied forces during World War I.
The bridge is reportedly being built via the build-operate-transfer model, in which private companies are contracted to build a structure and operate it for a set period of time, using profits from tolls or other revenues to recoup costs incurred in building and maintaining the structure.
The Dardanelles Strait is a difficult area for ships to contend with and the new bridge will provide a solution, noted President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Consultant COWI A/S (Copenhagen) is designing the crossing with side-by-side twin steel box girder decks separated by a space for aerodynamic stability.
The Turkish government reportedly awarded the contract in January 2017 to a joint venture composed of South Korea’s Daelim and SK E&C and local Limak and Yapi Merkezi.
The bridge deck will be 72 meters high and 45 meters wide with a maximum thickness of 3.5 meters. The deck will carry six lanes (three in each direction) of motorway, with two walkways on each side for maintenance.
Construction began in March 2017 and is still set to complete in March 2022.
