New floating pier ready to replace Istanbul’s historic Karaköy dock in Golden Horn

ISTANBUL

A newly-built floating pier extending to 81 meters in length and planned to replace the sunken Karaköy Pier, has been transported from Istanbul’s industrial Tuzla district to its new place in the Golden Horn.

The historic Karaköy Pier, a former ferry landing on the Golden Horn in the Beyoğlu district that first went into service in 1959 replacing an older pier on the Galata Bridge, succumbed after a storm in 2008 and sunk into the Bosphorus Strait.

The new pier, built in the Tuzla Shipyard on Istanbul’s Anatolian side, is expected to open for service in about a month’s time, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on March 13.

For the transport of the pier, which weighs 2,000 tons, both the Atatürk and Galata bridges were closed to vehicle and pedestrian traffic late at night, the agency reported.

The new pier was safely placed in its new location in the Golden Horn with the help of two trailers, the report stated.

The pier which stands at 3.5 meters high and which covers a ground of 2,236 square kilometers, will include a library, a cafeteria and the capacity to hold 10 ships tied at a time.