The Osmangazi Bridge ( tr, Osman Gazi Köprüsü) is a
suspension bridge
A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...
spanning the
Gulf of İzmit
Gulf of İzmit (Turkish language, Turkish: ''İzmit Körfezi''), also referred to as Izmit Bay, is a bay at the easternmost edge of the Sea of Marmara, in Kocaeli Province, Turkey. The gulf takes its name from the city of İzmit. Other cities a ...
at its narrowest point, . The bridge links the Turkish city of
Gebze
Gebze (,) is a district in Kocaeli Province, Turkey. It is situated 65 km (30 mi) southeast of Istanbul, on the Gulf of Izmit, the eastern arm of the Sea of Marmara. Gebze is the largest district per population size in the province as o ...
to the
Yalova Province
Yalova Province ( tr, ) is a province in northwestern Turkey, on the eastern coast of the Sea of Marmara. Its adjacent provinces are Bursa to the south and Kocaeli to the east. The population of the Yalova Province was 203,741 in 2010. Prior t ...
and carries the
O-5 motorway across the gulf.
The bridge was opened on 1 July 2016 to become the then-longest suspension bridge in Turkey and the
fourth-longest (seventh-longest as of 2022) suspension bridge in the world by the length of its central
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 ...
.
The length of the bridge was surpassed by the
Çanakkale 1915 Bridge
Çanakkale (pronounced ), ancient ''Dardanellia'' (), is a city and seaport in Turkey in Çanakkale province on the southern shore of the Dardanelles at their narrowest point. The population of the city is 195,439 (2021 estimate).
Çanakkale is ...
across 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, which became the
longest suspension bridge in the world
The world's longest suspension bridges are listed according to the length of their main span (i.e. the length of suspended roadway between the bridge's towers). The length of main span is the most common method of comparing the sizes of suspen ...
when it was opened on 18 March 2022.
Project
Construction and operation of the bridge was awarded to a joint venture (NOMAYG JV) formed by five Turkish companies (
Nurol, Özaltın, Makyol, Yüksel and Gocay) and one
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
construction company
Astaldi
Astaldi S.p.A. is an Italian multinational major construction company based in Rome. The group is active in the fields of civil engineering, hydraulic engineering, Electromechanical Engineering and transportation.
Significant subsidiaries incl ...
following the international
Build–operate–transfer
Build–operate–transfer (BOT) or build–own–operate–transfer (BOOT) is a form of project delivery method, usually for large-scale infrastructure projects, wherein a private entity receives a concession from the public sector (or the priva ...
tender that took place in April 2009.
In 2010, a contract was signed for the project that was estimated to cost
₺
The lira ( tr, Türk lirası; sign: ₺; ISO 4217 code: TRY; abbreviation: TL) is the official currency of Turkey and Northern Cyprus. One lira is divided into one hundred ''kuruş''.
History
Ottoman lira (1844–1923)
The lira, along with ...
11 billion for the entire highway from
Gebze
Gebze (,) is a district in Kocaeli Province, Turkey. It is situated 65 km (30 mi) southeast of Istanbul, on the Gulf of Izmit, the eastern arm of the Sea of Marmara. Gebze is the largest district per population size in the province as o ...
to
Bursa
( grc-gre, Προῦσα, Proûsa, Latin: Prusa, ota, بورسه, Arabic:بورصة) is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the ...
.
On 30 March 2013 Prime minister
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the List of presidents of Turkey, 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as Lis ...
laid the ground stone for the bridge.
After the completion of the bridge, the distance between Istanbul and
İzmir
İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban agglo ...
shortened by about , bypassing the lengthy distance around the
Gulf of İzmit
Gulf of İzmit (Turkish language, Turkish: ''İzmit Körfezi''), also referred to as Izmit Bay, is a bay at the easternmost edge of the Sea of Marmara, in Kocaeli Province, Turkey. The gulf takes its name from the city of İzmit. Other cities a ...
. The highway and bridge reduced the travel time between the two major cities from around six hours to five. The bridge and connecting highway provides three lanes of traffic in each direction. Construction was completed on 30 June 2016.
Two lanes of
high-speed railway
High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, line ...
were also planned to run through the middle of the bridge, but were scrapped in favor for a fourth lane for both ways. The decision lead to criticism and sparked people being suspicious of politicians being involved with automobile lobbyists.
EPC Bridge Contractor
The US$1 billion privately financed bridge was awarded to the Japanese firm IHI Infrastructure System Co. on 16 July 2011 as EPC basis with FIDIC Silverbook contract. IHI, which was one of the contractors of second Bosphorus bridge, also completed the seismic reinforcement projects for Halic and Mecidiyekoy viaducts. IHI subcontracted the design works to Danish engineering design firm
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 e ...
, which collaborated for the aesthetic design with
Dissing+Weitling
Dissing may refer to:
* Diss (music), song primarily intended to disrespect people
* Dissing+Weitling, architecture and design practice in Copenhagen, Denmark
*Heino Dissing (1912–1990), Danish cyclist
*Henry Dissing (1931–2009), Danish mycolo ...
. Notice to proceed was given by NOMAYG JV to IHI on 1 January 2013 and the expected total project duration was 37 months.
The dimensions are:
* main span length:
* side spans length:
* clearance:
* tower height:
* tower size (at the base):
* deck size:
The 34,000 tons of steel used to build the bridge was obtained from
ArcelorMittal Galaţi, Romania.
The bridge is
fourth longest suspension bridge in the world.
Accident at construction site
![İzmit Körfez Köprüsü - 18](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/%C4%B0zmit_K%C3%B6rfez_K%C3%B6pr%C3%BCs%C3%BC_-_18.4.15a.jpg)
On 21 March 2015 a
catwalk
A fashion show ( French ''défilé de mode'') is an event put on by a fashion designer to showcase their upcoming line of clothing and/or accessories during a fashion week. Fashion shows debut every season, particularly the Spring/Summer and Fa ...
broke away from its bolted joint
cable
Cable may refer to:
Mechanical
* Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof
* Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
on the south tower during the construction at the bridge and fell into the water. Added in February 2015, the catwalk was needed to allow workers access to the other side of the bay. No one was harmed by the accident as work was interrupted at this section due to windy weather. Marine traffic to and from İzmit Bay was suspended following the accident for security reasons and resumed after recovering the cable in the morning of 23 March.
Kishi Ryoichi, the 51-year-old Japanese engineer of the
IHI
Ihi, Ehee (Nepal Bhasa:ईही) is a ceremony in the Newar community in Nepal in which pre-adolescent girls are "married" to the Suvarna Kumar which is a symbol of the god Vishnu, ensuring that the girl becomes and remains fertile. It is bel ...
-
Itochu
is a Japanese corporation based in Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka and Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo.
It is one of the largest Japanese ''sogo shosha'' (general trading companies). Among Japanese trading companies, it is distinguished by not being descend ...
Consortium, who was in charge of the construction at site, committed suicide after the accident. He was found dead at the entrance of a cemetery near his lodging in
Altınova
Altınova is a town and district of Yalova Province in the east of Marmara region of Turkey. The mayor is Metin Oral (AK Party).
Shipyards area
The increasing demand for new construction, maintenance and repair in the maritime sector resulted in ...
. He left a note saying that "...this failure ends my private and professional life. This project was mine and my country's pride. No one else is responsible for this failure."
Tolls
As of 8 October 2021 the bridge tolls are:
In popular culture
The five-time
Supersport World champion
The Supersport World Championship, abbreviated to WorldSSP, is a motorcycle racing competition on hard-surfaced circuits, based on mid-sized sports motorcycles. Competition machines were originally based on production-based motorcycles with 60 ...
Kenan Sofuoğlu
Kenan Sofuoğlu (born 25 August 1984 in Kuzuluk, Akyazı) is a Turkish parliamentarian and former professional motorcycle racer. He holds a record five Supersport World Championship titles (2007, 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2016). Sofuoğlu also compe ...
from Turkey made a show of a motorcycle speed trial in the early morning of 30 June 2016, right before the official opening of the bridge. He crossed the distance in 26 seconds reaching a top speed of on his
Kawasaki Ninja H2R track-only motorcycle.
See also
*
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 ...
*
Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge
The Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge ("Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror Bridge"), also known as the Second Bosphorus Bridge (in Turkish: ''Fatih Sultan Mehmet Köprüsü'', ''F.S.M. Köprüsü'' or ''2. Köprü''), is a bridge in Istanbul, Turkey spannin ...
*
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 ...
*
Çanakkale 1915 Bridge
Çanakkale (pronounced ), ancient ''Dardanellia'' (), is a city and seaport in Turkey in Çanakkale province on the southern shore of the Dardanelles at their narrowest point. The population of the city is 195,439 (2021 estimate).
Çanakkale is ...
*
Eurasia Tunnel
The Eurasia Tunnel ( tr, Avrasya Tüneli) is a road tunnel in Istanbul, Turkey, crossing underneath the Bosphorus strait. The tunnel was officially opened on 20 December 2016 and opened to traffic on 22 December 2016.
The double-deck tunnel c ...
, undersea tunnel, crossing the Bosphorus for vehicular traffic, opened in December 2016.
*
Marmaray
The Marmaray () is a intercontinental commuter rail line in Istanbul, Turkey. A rail tunnel running under the Bosphorus strait was connected to an upgraded version of the old suburban train service (known as the banliyö), allowing trains ...
, undersea rail tunnel connecting the Asian and European sides of Istanbul.
*
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.
*
Public transport in Istanbul
]
Public transport in Istanbul comprises a bus network, various rail systems, funiculars, and maritime services to serve the more than 18 million inhabitants of the city spread over an area of 5712 km2.
History
Public road transpor ...
*
Rail transport in Turkey
Turkey has a state-owned railway system built to standard gauge () which falls under the remit of the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. The primary rail carrier is the ''Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Devlet Demiryolları'' (TCDD) (Turkish S ...
*
Turkish Straits
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Osmangazi Bridge
Bridges completed in 2016
Sea of Marmara
Road bridges in Turkey
Toll bridges in Turkey
Suspension bridges in Turkey
Buildings and structures in Kocaeli Province
Gebze
Buildings and structures in Yalova Province
Transport in Kocaeli Province
Transport in Yalova Province
2016 establishments in Turkey
Altınova