Bosphorus Bridge - the bridge connecting Europe and Asia (Istanbul, Turkey)

The Bosporus Bridge is one of two bridges connecting the European and Asian parts of Istanbul.

The structure floats over the Bosphorus Strait. The construction of the bridge lasted from 1970 to 1973. Construction was completed exactly on October 30, 1973, which coincided with the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Turkish Republic.

The decision to build the Bosporus Bridge was made in 1957 by the then Prime Minister of Turkey. The English company Freeman Fox & Partners was chosen as the main contractor for the project. The structure was erected by 35 engineers and 400 workers.

The bridge is 1560 meters long, the main span is 1074 meters long. The lengths of the spans are therefore as follows: 40 meters, 3 times 45 meters, 56 meters, 1074 meters, 4 times 63.75 meters. The width of the bridge is 33.4 meters, the height of the pillars is 165 meters, and the height of the bridge above the water surface is 64 meters.

The Bosphorus Bridge has eight lanes (including two emergency lanes). Due to varying traffic levels, four lanes are available in the morning in the direction of Europe, while the number of lanes in the direction of Asia is increased in the afternoon.

In the four years since the structure opened, the bridge could be traveled by foot or car. Currently, the bridge is only for cars and coaches.

Since the opening of the bridge until December 29, 1997, one billion vehicles have crossed the bridge; 180,000 vehicles travel over the bridge daily, of which 85% are cars and 15% are coaches.

The bridge with a full load deflects by 90 cm at its center.

The Bosphorus Bridge was depicted on the reverse of a 1,000-lire banknote.

In 2007, an LED lighting system was installed to illuminate the bridge at night, and a computerized system is now used to create a colorful light show each evening.

On May 17, 2005, an exhibition tennis match was played on the bridge between Venus Williams and Turkish player Ipek Senoglu.

The bridge is opened each October for the Istanbul Eurasia Marathon, the only marathon that runs from one continent to another.