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The 1915 Çanakkale Bridge ( tr, 1915 Çanakkale Köprüsü), is a road
suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridges, which lack vertical ...
in the province of Çanakkale in northwestern
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
. Situated just south of the coastal towns of Lapseki and
Gelibolu Gelibolu, also known as Gallipoli (from el, Καλλίπολις, ''Kallipolis'', "Beautiful City"), is the name of a town and a district in Çanakkale Province of the Marmara Region, located in Eastern Thrace in the European part of Turkey on ...
, the bridge spans the
Dardanelles The Dardanelles (; tr, Çanakkale Boğazı, lit=Strait of Çanakkale, el, Δαρδανέλλια, translit=Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (; ...
strait A strait is an oceanic landform connecting two seas or two other large areas of water. The surface water generally flows at the same elevation on both sides and through the strait in either direction. Most commonly, it is a narrow ocean chan ...
, about south of the
Sea of Marmara The Sea of Marmara,; grc, Προποντίς, Προποντίδα, Propontís, Propontída also known as the Marmara Sea, is an inland sea located entirely within the borders of Turkey. It connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea via t ...
. The bridge was officially opened by
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to ...
on 18 March 2022 after roughly five years of construction. The year "1915" in the official Turkish name honours an important Ottoman naval victory against the navies of the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
and
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
. The bridge is the longest suspension bridge in the world—with a main
span Span may refer to: Science, technology and engineering * Span (unit), the width of a human hand * Span (engineering), a section between two intermediate supports * Wingspan, the distance between the wingtips of a bird or aircraft * Sorbitan ester ...
of , the bridge surpasses the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge (1998) in Japan by . It is the centrepiece of the planned
Kınalı-Balıkesir Motorway The Kınalı-Tekirdağ-Çanakkale-Balıkesir Motorway ( tr, Kınalı-Tekirdağ-Çanakkale-Balıkesir Otoyolu) is a planned motorway, with an section between Malkara and Çanakkale open to traffic. When complete, the route will begin at Malkara, ...
, which will connect the O-3 and O-7 motorways in
East Thrace East Thrace or Eastern Thrace ( tr, Doğu Trakya or simply ''Trakya''; el, Ανατολική Θράκη, ''Anatoliki Thraki''; bg, Източна Тракия, ''Iztochna Trakiya''), also known as Turkish Thrace or European Turkey, is the pa ...
to the O-5 motorway in
Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
. The bridge is the first fixed crossing over the Dardanelles and the sixth one across the Turkish Straits, after three bridges over the
Bosphorus The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern Tu ...
and two tunnels under it.


Design and cost

The bridge's tender project was designed by
Tekfen Construction and Installation Tekfen Holding A.S. (Tekfen Group) is a Turkey-based holding company involved in engineering and construction, textile, food processing and other industrial sectors. History With foundations laid in 1956 by three civil engineers – Feyyaz Berk ...
and detailed designed by
COWI A/S COWI A/S is an international consulting group, specialising in engineering, environmental science and economics, with headquarters in Lyngby, Denmark. It has been involved in more than 50,000 projects in 175 countries and has approximately 7,300 ...
and PEC (Pyunghwa Engineering Consultants in South Korea, for cable design and approach bridge design packages only). Arup and Aas-Jakobsen participated in the project as Independent Design Verifier (IDV). The Administrator consultants are Tekfen and T-ingénierie. The total length of the bridge is and together with the approach viaducts the length reaches , which surpasses the total length of the Osman Gazi Bridge and its approach viaducts by , to become the longest bridge of any type in Turkey. The height of the bridge's two towers is , making it the tallest bridge in Turkey, surpassing
Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge The Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge ( tr, Yavuz Sultan Selim Köprüsü) is a bridge for rail and motor vehicle transit over the Bosphorus strait, to the north of two existing suspension bridges in Istanbul, Turkey. It was initially named the Third Bos ...
, and the third tallest structure in the country. Internationally, the bridge is the second tallest bridge in the world, surpassing the
Pingtang Bridge The Pingtang Bridge is a bridge in Pingtang, Guizhou, China and carries the Pingtang Luodian Expressway over the deep Caodu River valley. With a height of , it is the third-tallest bridge in the world. It was opened to traffic on 30 December 2 ...
in China. The deck of the bridge is high and wide, with a maximum thickness of . The deck carries six lanes of motorway (three in each direction), together with two walkways on each side for maintenance. According to President Erdoğan, the bridge cost
The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...
2.5 billion ( $2.7 billion) to build, but would save
The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...
415 million ( $458 million) per year from a reduction of fuel consumption and carbon emissions.


History

Proposals for a bridge spanning the
Dardanelles Strait The Dardanelles (; tr, Çanakkale Boğazı, lit=Strait of Çanakkale, el, Δαρδανέλλια, translit=Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont ( ...
have existed since the 1990s. A bridge was proposed again in 2012, and in 2014, it was placed in the Turkish government's future transportation projects list. In September 2016, the government officially launched the bridge building project. Bids for the contract to construct the bridge were made in 2017. The contract was awarded to a consortium containing Turkish companies
Limak Holding Limak Holding A.S. is a Turkish conglomerate, with major interests in construction, energy, cement, and tourism. Its assets include the Limak Cement and Limak Energy companies and the Limak Tourism Group. In 2012 it had around $260m revenue from c ...
and
Yapı Merkezi Yapı Merkezi Holding A.Ş. is a group company whose field of activity is primarily in the construction industry. It was founded in 1965 by Ersin Arioglu and Koksal Anadol in Istanbul. As the first and largest company of the Yapı Merkezi Group, ...
, alongside South Korean companies DL Holdings and SK Ecoplant. Construction began in March 2017. The bridge was initially scheduled for completion in September 2023, and later brought forward to March 2022. On 16 May 2020, the second tower was completed, on the
Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles s ...
side (European coast). By 13 November 2021 all block decks were installed. The toll bridge opened for traffic on 18 March 2022, with a toll price of 200
lira Lira is the name of several currency units. It is the current currency of Turkey and also the local name of the currencies of Lebanon and of Syria. It is also the name of several former currencies, including those of Italy, Malta and Israe ...
(€13.60).


Symbolism

Some symbolic figures are associated with the bridge: * the number 1915 in the name, * the height of intersection point of main cable (318 m), * and the opening date (18 March), are all related to the date of the Ottoman naval victory, on 18 March 1915, during the naval operations in the Gallipoli campaign. Meanwhile, the length of the bridge's main span (2,023 metres) refers to the
centennial {{other uses, Centennial (disambiguation), Centenary (disambiguation) A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century, a period of 100 years. Notable events Notable centennial events at a ...
of the Turkish Republic (1923–2023).


Gallery

File:Çanakkale 1915 Bridge construction March 2020 2.jpg, Western tower, March 2020 File:Çanakkale 1915 Bridge construction March 2020 1.jpg, View from European side to Asian side, March 2020 File:Çanakkale 1915 Bridge construction June 2021 1.jpg File:The Dardanelles Bridge 1915 Çanakkale Bridge 1915 Çanakkale Köprüsü, Dardanelles strait, south of the Sea of Marmara, Turkey (51971973068).jpg, The bridge near completion File:Çanakkale 1915 Bridge.webm, A video from the bridge (2022) File:1915 Çanakkale Bridge Commemorative Coin.jpg, 1915 Çanakkale Bridge Commemorative Coin


Comparison of notable bridges


See also

* Osman Gazi Bridge *
Istanbul Canal The Istanbul Canal ( tr, Kanal İstanbul) is a project for an artificial sea-level waterway, which is planned by Turkey on East Thrace, connecting the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara, and thus to the Aegean and Mediterranean seas. Istanbul Canal ...
*Other crossings of the Turkish Straits: **
Bosphorus Bridge The Bosphorus Bridge ( tr, Boğaziçi Köprüsü), known officially as the 15 July Martyrs Bridge ( tr, 15 Temmuz Şehitler Köprüsü) and unofficially as the First Bridge ( tr, Birinci Köprü), is one of the three suspension bridges spanning ...
** Eurasia Tunnel, undersea tunnel, crossing the Bosphorus for vehicular traffic, opened in December 2016 ** Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge **
Great Istanbul Tunnel The Great Istanbul Tunnel ( tr, Büyük İstanbul Tüneli) is a proposed multi-use highway and railway undersea tunnel in Istanbul, Turkey to cross the Bosphorus strait. Project The project was officially announced by Prime minister Ahmet Davut ...
, a proposed three-level road-rail undersea tunnel ** Marmaray Tunnel, undersea rail tunnel connecting the Asian and European sides of Istanbul **
Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge The Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge ( tr, Yavuz Sultan Selim Köprüsü) is a bridge for rail and motor vehicle transit over the Bosphorus strait, to the north of two existing suspension bridges in Istanbul, Turkey. It was initially named the Third Bos ...
**
Xerxes' Pontoon Bridges Xerxes' Pontoon Bridges were constructed in 480 BC during the second Persian invasion of Greece upon the order of Xerxes I of Persia for the purpose of Xerxes’ army to traverse the Hellespont (the present-day Dardanelles) from Asia into Thra ...
, an ancient attempted crossing at a similar location (480 BC)


Notes


References


External links


Official websiteÇanakkale 1915 Bridge
at
Daelim Daelim Industrial was established in 1939, and its E&C (Engineering & Construction) and Petrochemical Groups are the main lead of the Daelim Business Conglomerate (Chaebol). The fields covered by Daelim Industrial as one of the top EPC Company ...
web site {{Supertall 2022 establishments in Turkey Bridges completed in 2022 Buildings and structures in Çanakkale Province Dardanelles Gallipoli Peninsula Gelibolu District Lapseki District Road bridges in Turkey Suspension bridges in Turkey Toll bridges in Turkey Transcontinental crossings Transport in Çanakkale Province