Bosphorus Bridge Boğaziçi Köprüsü |
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Coordinates | 41°02′43″N 29°02′04″E / 41.04528°N 29.03444°ECoordinates: 41°02′43″N 29°02′04″E / 41.04528°N 29.03444°E |
Carries | 3 lanes of Motorway in each direction |
Crosses | Bosphorus strait |
Locale | Istanbul |
Official name | Turkish: 15 Temmuz Şehitler Köprüsü |
Maintained by | Turkish Highways Association |
Characteristics | |
Design | Suspension bridge |
Material | Steel |
Total length | 1,560 m (5,118 ft) |
Width | 33.40 m (110 ft) |
Height | 165 m (541 ft) |
Longest span | 1,074 m (3,524 ft) |
Clearance below | 64 m (210 ft) |
History | |
Designer | Sir Gilbert Roberts and William Brown |
Construction begin | 20 February 1970 |
Construction end | 1 June 1973 |
Opened | 30 October 1973 |
Statistics | |
Daily traffic | 200,000 |
Toll | Only in one direction |
The Bosphorus Bridge (Turkish: Boğaziçi Köprüsü) or officially 15 July Martyrs Bridge (Turkish: 15 Temmuz Şehitler Köprüsü), also called the First Bridge (Turkish: Birinci Köprü), is one of the three suspension bridges spanning the Bosphorus strait (Turkish: Boğaziçi) in Istanbul, Turkey, thus connecting Europe and Asia (alongside Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge and Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge). The bridge extends between Ortaköy (in Europe) and Beylerbeyi (in Asia).
It is a gravity-anchored suspension bridge with steel towers and inclined hangers. The aerodynamic deck hangs on zigzag steel cables. It is 1,560 m (5,118 ft) long with a deck width of 33.40 m (110 ft). The distance between the towers (main span) is 1,074 m (3,524 ft) and the total height of the towers is 165 m (541 ft). The clearance of the bridge from sea level is 64 m (210 ft).
Upon its completion in 1973, the Bosphorus Bridge had the 4th-longest suspension bridge span in the world, and the longest outside the United States (only the Verrazano–Narrows Bridge, Golden Gate Bridge and Mackinac Bridge had a longer span in 1973). The Bosphorus Bridge remained the longest suspension bridge in Europe until the completion of the Humber Bridge in 1981, and the longest suspension bridge in Asia until the completion of the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge (Second Bosphorus Bridge) in 1988 (which was surpassed by the Minami Bisan-Seto Bridge in 1989). Currently, the Bosphorus Bridge has the 25th-longest suspension bridge span in the world.