Consortium wins third Bosphorus bridge deal

A consortium formed by ICTAS of Turkey and the Italian firm Astaldi has won a tender to build a third suspension bridge over Istanbul’s Bosphorus.

Despite criticism from planners and environmentalists, the 1.3km structure, the longest over the strait, has been given the go-ahead by Turkey’s Transport Minister, Binari Yildirim.

A joint venture of local company 3015 IC Içtas Insaat and Italian 1324 Astaldi has won the tender for the project, and Minister Yildirim is reported as saying the bridge would be built in three years at an anticipated cost of €2 billion (US$1.55 billion).

The project is designed to relieve congestion in Istanbul, a city of over 13 million people, and the plan is for trucks to use the bridge instead of clogging up roads elsewhere. Critics say it will simply attract more traffic, and will damage the landscape.

The Gebze-Orhangazi-Izmir Highway project, which is planned to connect three industrial regions, will reduce the traffic between Gebze, near Istanbul, and the Aegean city of Izmir by 30%, says the highways authority.

The bridge is part of the Northern Marmara highway project.

It is also reported that French bridge designer Michel Virlogeux’s design for the third Bosphorus bridge could be modelled on the Brooklyn Bridge in New York.