Turkey tenders for 1915 Canakkale Bridge work

Turkey will open tenders this month for a bridge at the southwestern end of the Sea of Marmara and around 200km south of Istanbul.

The Canakkale 1915 Bridge will span the Dardanelles Strait close to the city of Canakkale and where ferries cross the stretch of water. The suspension bridge will be further north, between the towns of Gelibolu in East Thrace on the European side of the Dardanelles and Lapseki in Troas on the Asian side.

The bridge will be part of the Kınalı-Tekirdağ-Çanakkale-Balıkesir motorway project. The name comes from the World War I campaign Battle of Gallipoli, close to the city of Canakkale. In 1915 the Ottoman Turks fought off a fierce attempt by mostly British, Australian, New Zealand and Canadian troops to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula.

A report in the Anadolu News Agency quoted transportation, maritime and communications minister Ahmet Arslan saying that site clearing on each side of Dardanelles is complete and foundation work would likely start next year.

The bridge, likely to be tolled, has been designed by Tekfen Holdings. Earlier reports put the structure at more than 3,600m and built to a build-operate-transfer model.