An impressive bridge in Turkey broke records when it opened in 2022 and it is now the world’s longest suspension bridge. Spanning the Dardanelles strait, it connects Europe and Asia with a massive 6,637 feet main span. Officially opened in March 2022 by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, it marked a major milestone in the country’s transport network. The bridge stretches over 2.8 miles carrying six lanes of motorway traffic along with pedestrian walkways.
The bridge connects the towns of Gelibolu in Europe and Lapseki located in Asia. It surpassed Japan’s famous Akashi Kaikyō Bridge which held the record for 24 years with a main span of 6,532 feet. The 1915 Çanakkale Bridge’s two towering supports rise to around 1,043 feet tall making them among the tallest bridge towers in the world and taller than many major skyscrapers across Europe.
That’s taller than The Shard in London which is 1,016 feet tall and the tallest building in Western Europe.
It has significantly reduced travel times between the European and Asian sides of Turkey while easing congestion on existing crossings. It now takes only six minutes to drive across the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge.
Before the bridge opened, travellers had to take a ferry across the Dardanelles Strait which would usually take over an hour. Construction of the bridge took around five years and cost approximately £2.16 billion.
The bridge also carries strong symbolic meaning. Its central span references the centenary of the Turkish Republic, while other design elements reflect historical dates linked to the Gallipoli campaign. The structure is also painted in red and white to show the colours of the Turkish flag.
The record it holds may not last forever, however. If it successfully gets built, the Strait of Messina Bridge, a proposed £11 billion project designed to connect mainland Italy with Sicily, will surpass all records. The bridge would stretch nearly 2.3 miles, with a single suspended span longer than any in the world.
Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister, Matteo Salvini, said that the bridge, featuring three traffic lanes in each direction alongside a double-track railway, would be capable of carrying up to 6,000 vehicles an hour and around 200 trains a day.
For now, however, the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge still stands as the world’s longest suspension bridge and a landmark achievement linking two continents across one of the world’s most historic straits.
