Erdogan inaugurates world’s longest suspension bridge

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the opening ceremony of the 1915 Canakkale Bridge over the Dardanelles, in Canakkale, Turkey.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan opened yesterday the world’s longest suspension bridge over the Dardanelles strait in northwestern Turkey. The €2.5bn ($2.8bn) “1915 Canakkale Bridge” built by a consortium of Turkish and South Korean companies has a main span of 2.023km (1.257 miles) between its towers painted in the red and white colours of the Turkish flag, making it longer than the previous recordholder, the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Japan. Its towers are 318m high and the total length of the bridge is 4.6km including the approach viaducts. Until now, vehicles travelling between Anatolia and the Gallipoli peninsula had to cross the Dardanelles in a one-hour ferry journey, which including waiting time amounted to as much as five hours. The journey will now take around six minutes. “These works will continue to provide profit for the state for many years,” Erdogan said at an opening ceremony. “These projects have a large share in putting our country ahead in investment, workforce and exports.” The inauguration coincides with the 107th anniversary of Ottoman forces’ naval victory against British and French troops in the Gallipoli campaign during World War I. In his speech, Erdogan said the bridge would “keep alive the memory of Dardanelle martyrs”. Erdogan is also planning to build a canal in Istanbul – an alternative to the Bosphorus. –