Last section of third bridge on Bosphorus to be mounted on March 4

ISTANBUL - Doğan News Agency

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The last section of the third bridge over the Bosphorus will be installed on March 4, officials from the company constructing the link have announced. 

Some 58 of the total 59 steel sections have been mounted so far, with the last nine-meter-long deck set to be installed on March 4 with a ceremony, according to company sources. 

The bridge will be ready to open along with its connecting roads by August, said Transport, Communications and Maritime Minister Binali Yıldırım on Feb. 24. 

The groundbreaking ceremony for Istanbul’s $3 billion third bridge, named the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge for the Ottoman sultan who was famous for his conquests in the Eastern world, was held in May 2013. 

The 116-km long highway, which is built as part of the Third Bridge and Northern Marmara Highway Project, include 35 viaducts. Some 25 of these viaducts have already been completed and made ready for transportation, according to company representatives. 

The bridge will have eight road lanes as well as two rail tracks. The third bridge is expected to be about 1.4 kilometers in length and 59 meters in width, making the bridge the widest of the world when it is completed.

All trucks and heavy-duty vehicles will also be directed to the bridge when it is opened. Istanbul’s Atatürk International Airport, Sabiha Gökçen Airport and the third airport, which is currently under construction, will also be connected to each other via a planned railway system, which will also pass over the bridge and be integrated into the Marmaray and Istanbul metro system.