Turkey opens world’s largest suspension bridge

Turkey has opened the world’s largest suspension bridge, a megaproject that its President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hopes will secure his place in history.

The bridge, which cost $200 billion and took three years to build, will create a third link along the Bosphorus Strait which divides Europe and Asia. It is built in the style of New York’s Brooklyn Bridge and has pylons higher than those of the Eiffel Tower. It is 1.4km long and 59 metres wide, with eight vehicle lanes and two high-speed rail lines.

It will be named after Yavuz Sultan Selim, a 16th century Ottaman ruler.

“When man dies, he leaves behind a monument,” Erdogan told a crowd of thousands, who were waving Turkish flags at the launch of the bridge. “People die, but their work remains immortal.”

He said that Turkey will continue to build “mega” infrastructure projects.

“We will also build a similar bridge over the Dardanelles Strait. We will speed up the process for the Canal Istanbul project, and more will follow,” he said.

Turkish officials estimate that the bridge will lead to $1.75 billion savings annually, in terms of time and energy, and that 135,000 cars will travel on it everyday. The bridge was built by Italy’s Astaldi and Istanbul-based IC Ictas, who will jointly operate it for around a decade.

A number of environmental groups have protested the construction of the bridge, warning that it would destroy forested areas to Istanbul’s north, some of the last remaining green areas around the city.