Sultan Selim I Bridge or Istanbul Third Bridge also called the Third Bosphorus Bridge. It was established as the third bridge linking the Asian and European banks of Istanbul after the Bosphorus Bridge and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge. The O-7 motorway passes through it. Its construction began in 2013 and opened on August 26, 2016. It was decided to be named “Sultan Selim Bridge” after the last piece of metal pieces that makes up the structure of the bridge was installed and it is considered one of the longest suspension bridges in the world.

Incorporation and Creation

The construction plans for the third bridge were approved by the Ministry of Transport in 2012, and building permits for the project were granted to the İştaş and Staldi companies. The construction of the bridge officially began with the laying of the foundation stone in a ceremony in June 2013, attended by then President of the State Abdullah Gul and then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Label

The name of the bridge was announced by Turkish President Abdullah Gul, who agreed to name it after the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, in honor of the Ottoman Sultan Selim I, who expanded the Ottoman Empire towards the Middle East and North Africa between 1514-1517 and received the title of Caliph of Islam for the Ottoman dynasty after He conquered Egypt in 1517.

Building

The bridge is 59 meters wide and employed 1,460 workers and engineers, and it will become the widest bridge in the world. It will be 1,408 meters long over the Bosphorus, and will include 10 lanes, 8 of which are for cars and 2 for railways. The total length of the bridge is 2,164 metres.

Location

The bridge is located between the Garipçe district of Sarıyer on the European side of Istanbul, and the Poyrazköy district of Beykoz on the Asian side of Istanbul. The foundation stone laying ceremony took place on July 29, 2013 and was inaugurated on August 27, 2016.

Completion of works and opening of the project

On August 26, 2016, Turkey celebrated the opening of the “Sultan Yavuz Selim” (Selim I) bridge, the widest suspension bridge in the world, which connects the European and Asian parts of Istanbul. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, in the presence of a number of representatives of foreign countries, inaugurated the bridge, which is the third suspension bridge on the Bosphorus Strait, linking the European and Asian continents. The bridge, which was built by the private sector, will provide traffic service for nearly 135,000 cars per day, as it is the widest suspension bridge in the world, with a width of 59 meters, and contains ten tracks, eight of which are for cars, four on each side, and two tracks for railways.

The Sultan Selim Bridge is also known as the longest suspension bridge supported by railway tracks in the world, with a length of 2164 meters, and its columns are the highest in the world, with a height of 322 meters.