Mammoth deck mounted on İzmit Bay Bridge in Turkey

ISTANBUL

DHA photo

A bridge deck that is 2,600 tons in weight, 124-meters long and 36-meters wide was mounted on the İzmit Bay Bridge, a part of the Gebze-Orhangazi-İzmir Highway project which will shorten the Istanbul-İzmir travel time from seven hours to three hours 30 minutes. The highway is expected to be completed in 2017.

The mounting operation of the deck, which lasted 11 hours, has become the heaviest weightlifting operation of its kind in Turkey, said Nurol İnşaat, one of the members of the consortium responsible for building the highway. The viaduct connects the southern bridge pier to the highway. 

The bridge is expected to be completed in December 2015, according to Kemal Yavuz Batum, top manager of Otoyol A.Ş., a company founded by consortium members to undertake the highway project. 

“In the construction of the bridge, which is built on an earthquake area, 32,000 tons of steel will be used … The highway will be 450 kilometers when it is completed for around $8 billion worth of investment, excluding value added taxes. We made a fresh $5 billion loan deal in June 5. This is the highest amount the Turkish Republic has financed an infrastructure project for,” Batum said. 

“We broke a record by lifting the last deck of the bridge, which is 2,600 tons, up to 57 meters,” said project manager Cengiz F. Gümüşdağ.