Asia and Europe Reunited by the Third Bridge

The final deck section of the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, which connects the European and Asian sides for the third time, was installed during a ceremony attended by President Erdoğan, Prime Minister Davutoğlu, and Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs, and Communications Binali Yıldırım. President Erdoğan, Prime Minister Davutoğlu, and Minister of Transport Yıldırım jointly performed the welding of the final deck section.

A historic moment was witnessed in the Third Bosphorus Bridge and Northern Marmara Highway Project, implemented by ICA. With the installation of the final steel deck on the Third Bosphorus Bridge, Istanbul’s European and Asian sides were reunited once again. In addition to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, the ceremony was attended by Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs, and Communications Binali Yıldırım; Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Berat Albayrak; Minister of Environment and Urbanization Fatmagül Demet Sarı; Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Kadir Topbaş, Istanbul Governor Vasip Şahin, General Director of Highways İsmail Kartal, IC Holding Board Chairman İbrahim Çeçen, ICA Board Chairman Fırat Çeçen, and bridge workers.
President Erdoğan and Prime Minister Davutoğlu first walked with their delegation to the center of the bridge’s 1,408-meter-long main span. They received information about the project from officials.
Speaking first at the ceremony, Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs, and Communications Binali Yıldırım noted that this marked the third time the continents had been brought together,
“Thanks to the stability and strong leadership Turkey has experienced over the past 13 years, we are carrying out, one by one, the projects that the world watches with envy—projects that will carry Turkey to 2023, the 100th anniversary of the Republic. On this bridge, too, the main contractors are Turkish, and the subcontractors are foreign. Back then, the Japanese, the British, and the Koreans would build them, and we would serve them. Now Turkish contractors are building them, and they are providing services as subcontractors. “This, too, demonstrates Turkey’s change, its transformation, and the progress it has made,” he said.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, for his part, stated that with the Third Bosphorus Bridge, Turkey has once again left a positive mark on the global agenda. Davutoğlu said, “This is a significant project on the global stage. We are talking about a bridge of global scale—the first of its kind—that connects Europe and Asia. Asia and Europe are uniting once again. Our nation, which has left its mark on history with the great journey between Asia and Europe, is once again making its mark today through its own engineers, its own workers, and the fruits of its own labor and intellect. May this mark of ours endure forever. “May this seal grant us the privilege of uniting the two continents not only through a bridge but also through a bridge of hearts,” he stated.
President Erdoğan also said he felt honored to lay the final deck of a project that could be called a “star” for Istanbul. The President said, “There is no other suspension bridge of this length. These are a source of pride for us, and, God willing, as our Minister of Transportation has indicated, by August, By August, it will be fully completed—including all its viaducts and every other component—and we will hold the opening ceremony together.”
Following the speeches, the group proceeded to the area where the final 9-meter-long steel deck section was located. President Erdoğan, Prime Minister Davutoğlu, and Transportation Minister Yıldırım jointly welded the final deck panel installed on the 3rd Bosphorus Bridge.
After the welding, President Erdoğan took the floor and thanked everyone who contributed to the 3rd Bosphorus Bridge. Erdoğan said, “Whether it be our Prime Minister or our ministers, from the architects to the engineers, down to the workers—I would like to express my deepest gratitude, on behalf of myself and my nation, for the efforts of the contracting firms in their diligent execution of this project. May God be pleased with them, and I pray that this welding, along with the ‘Bismillah’ we will recite as we take this step, will bring blessings to this project.”