Turkey’s 1915 Canakkale Bridge, the longest midspan suspension bridge that spans the Dardanelles Strait and connects Europe and Asia at the western end of the Marmara Sea, was inaugurated last Friday in Turkey’s northwestern province of Canakkale.
The bridge, the name of which refers to the Canakkale Naval Victory achieved on March 18, 1915, during World War I, stretches 2,023 meters between its towers, symbolizing the year 2023, the centenary of the founding of the Turkish Republic.
The bridge, which costs 2.5 billion euros (2.76 billion U.S. dollars) to build, will generate 5.3 billion euros in economic output, create 118,000 jobs and generate 2.4 billion euros in revenue for Turkey, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressed the inauguration ceremony.
The bridge will save 415 million euros for Turkey each year from a reduction of fuel consumption and carbon emissions, Erdogan revealed at the ceremony.
With its two-way and six-lane road, the bridge will decrease the approximately one-hour ferry voyage between the two sides across the Dardanelles Strait to six minutes.
After Istanbul’s three bridges over the Bosphorus Strait, the 1915 Canakkale Bridge is Turkey’s fourth bridge connecting Europe and Asia, and the first to cross the Dardanelles.
The bridge, constructed through a public-private partnership model, was built by a consortium of Turkish and South Korean companies, local media reported. South Korean Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum attended the inauguration ceremony on Friday.
China’s Sichuan Road and Bridge Construction Group also took part in the bridge’s construction after winning the steel box girder hoisting project bid. /argumentum.al with Xinhua
