Canakkale, Turkey —(Map)
On March 18, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan opened a huge bridge that sets a new record for the world’s longest suspension bridge˳ The “1915 Canakkale Bridge” crosses Turkey’s Dardanelles Strait, linking Europe and Asia˳
The country of Turkey is mainly in Asia˳ But part of it extends into Europe˳ The Dardanelles Strait is a thin band of water that separates the two parts˳
The new bridge allows people to drive across the Dardanelles Strait in about six minutes˳ Before the bridge, the fastest way to cross the Strait was by boat˳ The trip was about an hour, but waiting to get on and off the boat could take hours longer˳
The new bridge is a suspension bridge, which means that its middle section hangs between its two supports without any other supports underneath˳ Before this, the suspension bridge with the longest middle section was the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, which connects two islands in Japan˳ The central section of the new bridge is just over two kilometers (1˳25 miles) long – about 105 feet (32 meters) longer than the previous record˳
The bridge is called the “1915 Canakkale Bridge”˳ It’s meant as a reminder of a big World War I struggle in the Dardanelles Strait in 1915˳ Over eight months, Turkey defeated an attack by navy ships from England and France trying to land soldiers in Gallipoli – now called Gelibolu˳
The bridge, which runs from Gelibolu to Lapseki, was built by Turkish and South Korean companies working together˳ South Korea’s prime minister, Kim Boo-kyum, was at the opening of the bridge˳ Mr˳ Kim said, “The 1915 Canakkale Bridge will leave this history of…conflict behind and will be a bridge between East and West, starting a new era [period] of peace˳”
Building the bridge wasn’t easy˳ It took five years and cost about $2˳7 billion˳ But Turkey expects that the bridge will save as much as $458 million every year because trips crossing the Dardanelles Strait will be using far less fuel and polluting much less˳ Crossing the bridge will cost about $13˳60˳
The bridge is just one of the many large building projects that Mr˳ Erdogan and his AK Party have tackled since coming to power 20 years ago˳ These projects include a bridge and tunnels, as well as a new airport in Istanbul˳ Mr˳ Erdogan also built a $600 million palace for Turkey’s president (currently Mr˳ Erdogan), which has earned him lots of criticism˳
Mr˳ Erdogan may be hoping that the bridge will help him with voters˳ Turkey will hold elections in 2023˳ Since early 2021, Mr˳ Erdogan’s popularity has dropped sharply˳
Special Numbers
The new bridge contains several special numbers˳ Its towers are 318 meters (348 yards) high and the bridge opened on March 18 (3/18)˳ Those numbers mark the day that Turkey normally honors soldiers killed during the Gallipoli battles˳
And the bridge’s largest section isn’t just two kilometers long, it’s 2,023 meters (2,212 yards)˳ Next year, 2023, will mark 100 years since Turkey became the country it is today – the Republic of Turkey˳
