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Turkish President Erdogan Opens World’s Longest Suspension Bridge
Turkey president opens the “1915 Canakkale Bridge”, also known as the Dardanelles Bridge, over the Dardanelles Strait.
The “1915 Canakkale Bridge”, the world’s longest suspension bridge , cuts travel time between Asia and Europe to 6 minutes.
Work on the Dardanelles bridge project was launched in March 2017, with more than 5,000 workers involved in the construction.
Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has opened the world’s longest suspension bridge over the Dardanelles Strait — which cuts travel time between Asia and Europe to six minutes.
The $2.8-billion “1915 Canakkale Bridge”, also known as the Dardanelles Bridge, was built by a consortium of Turkish and South Korean companies. It has a main span of 2.023 kilometers between its towers, painted in the red and white colors of Türkiye’s flag.
The Dardanelles Bridge is longer than the previous record-holder, the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Japan.
Erdogan has launched many mega infrastructure projects, including a third bridge over the Bosphorus, throughout his two-decade run as prime minister and then president.
“These works will continue to provide profit for the state for many years,” Erdogan said at an opening ceremony on the anniversary of a 1915 Ottoman naval victory against French and British forces in the Dardanelles during World War One.
Last year he launched what he previously called his “crazy project” : a $15 billion canal in Istanbul intended to relieve pressure on the busy Bosphorus Strait.
Erdogan said the price for passenger vehicles to use the bridge would be 200 lira ($13.50). Work on the Dardanelles bridge project was launched in March 2017, with more than 5,000 workers involved in the construction.
