The Opening Of The "Çanakkale Bridge", The Longest Of Its Kind In The World!

The Turkish President inaugurates the "Çanakkale Bridge", the longest bridge of its kind in the world, coinciding with the 107th anniversary of the Ottoman Empire's victory in the Battle of Çanakkale.

The Opening Of The "Çanakkale Bridge", The Longest Of Its Kind In The World!

Turkey commemorates the 107th anniversary of the victory of the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Çanakkale against the Allies, by opening the Çanakkale 1915 bridge, the longest of its kind in the world. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan participated in the opening ceremony, on March 18, 2022.

The name of the bridge "Çanakkale" refers to the city where the battle took place, while the 1915 figure stands for the year of the battle.

Bridge information and specifications

According to Turkish reports and the statements of Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Kara Ismailoglu, the "Çanakkale 1915 Köprüsü Bridge" is characterized by the following:

• It is 3,860 meters long, while the distance between the two towers (columns) is 2023 meters, with 6 lanes (3 to go and 3 to return).

• It is the longest of its kind in the world and surpassed the "Akashi Kaiko" bridge in Japan, which held this title with a length of 1991 meters.

• The 1915 Çanakkale Bridge reduces the travel time between the two banks to only 6 minutes by car, instead of the hour and a half that it used to take for ships to cross before.

• The bridge is based on two bases with a length of 333 meters on each side, while the height of its towers is 318 meters, which is higher than the height of the Eiffel Tower, which is 300 meters.

• The total annual savings will be 737 million TL ($85 million).

The first bridge outside Istanbul connecting Asia to Europe!

Çanakkale Bridge will be the first bridge that connects the continents of Asia and Europe outside Istanbul, and it will also be the first permanent bridge over the Dardanelles that connects the Sea of ​​Marmara with the Aegean Sea.

The bridge connects the two banks of the Marmara Sea from the Çakkarkaya region of Labaski district (the Asian side of Çanakkale state), and the Sutluga site of Gallipoli district (the European side of Çanakkale).

It is noted that the Çanakkale Bridge gives the state importance in the transport line from the "Thrace" region of the north-west of the country, to the Aegean and the Mediterranean Sea, and will give it importance in the Marmara region as well.

The most important sections of the Istanbul-Izmir highway

The 1915 Çanakkale Bridge is the most important section of the highway project linking the states of Tekir Dag, Çanakkale, and Balikesir, which is 352 km long and includes 31 bridges, 30 bridge intersections, 143 upper and lower corridors, and 5 tunnels.

The highway also links the cities of Istanbul and Izmir and would contribute to easing traffic in Istanbul, especially on suspension bridges, and significantly reduce transportation costs to the Aegean region

It was done a year ahead of schedule!

According to experts, the Turkish government's interest in the completion of the Çanakkale Bridge is a prelude to moving on to other giant projects, which accelerated the implementation of the bridge, and its opening a year ahead of schedule.

The foundation stone of the bridge was laid on March 18, 2017, and it cost more than 10 billion TL ($1.2 billion).

The bridge was carried out by 5,000 workers, including 649 engineers, with 809 vehicles used for heavy equipment.