Bridge on the River Dardanelles
The 1915 Canakkale Bridge in Turkey is now the world’s longest suspension bridge. Connecting the European and Asian shores of the Dardanelles Strait, the recently completed bridge spans two kilometers, or 6,637 feet.
Turkish companies collaborated with South Korean builders to complete the bridge. While the five-year project cost $2.7 billion, Turkey will save an estimated $458 million per year in reduced fuel consumption and carbon emissions—not to mention travel time. The bridge allows travelers to cross from the northwestern town of Gelibolu to Lapseki on the Asian side of Turkey, reducing a trip that previously took 90 minutes by ferry to just six minutes.
The bridge will be further celebrated in 2023, when its central span of 2,023 meters will symbolically illustrate the centennial of the founding of the Turkish Republic following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.