Written by Ananya Chakraborti, a grade 10 student

What’s the bridge called?

It’s called the Canakkale Bridge

The 1915 Çanakkale Bridge, also known as the Dardanelles Bridge, is a road suspension bridge in the canton of Canakkale in north-western Turkey.  The bridge covers a length of 2023 m and a height of 318 m. The bridge was inaugurated by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on 18th March 2022. It took five years to construct.

Why the name Canakkale bridge?

The year “1915“ is the formal year when the event of the Ottoman victory against the forces of the British and French in Dardanelles during World War 1 took place. This victory helped the country pursue a War of Independence and form a Republic from the embers of the Ottoman Empire. Therefore, this date is one of the most important ones in the history of Turkey.

Why was it constructed?

The bridge was constructed to minimize the travel time between Asia and Europe to 6 minutes. Hitherto vehicles travelling between Anatolia and the Gallipoli peninsula had to traverse the Dardanelles in an hour’s time in a ferry. Which additionally included five hours waiting for the ferry? The expedition can now be completed in 6 minutes. This extensive bridge was mapped out by Tekfen and T-ingénierie COWI A/S. The work on the bridge started in March 2017 with 5000 workers.

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Headline image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/1915_%C3%87anakkale_Bridge%2C_October_2021.png
Attribution: Odo Puiu Events YouTube Channel, CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons