Osmangazi Bridge
The Osmangazi Bridge forms the most important section of the Istanbul-Izmir Highway, which has a total length of 426 kilometers, including 384 kilometers of the highway and 42 kilometers of connecting roads, and was built using the Build-Operate-Transfer model.
The bridge, which was built between Dilovası and Hersek Burnu, connecting both sides of the Izmit Bay, has a total length of 2,682 meters.
With its 1,550-meter main span, it ranks as the 7th largest cable-stayed bridge in the world that is open for operation.
The bridge was completed on July 1, 2016, and was opened to the public.
When considering transportation alternatives, the crossing times for the gulf are as follows: Crossing the gulf by car using the existing road takes about one and a half hours, while crossing by ferry takes 45-60 minutes. In contrast, the Osmangazi Bridge allows you to cross the gulf in just 6 minutes.
The materials and technologies used in the construction of the Osmangazi Bridge include:
• When the steel cables are connected end to end, they reach a length of 84,518 kilometers. This length is more than enough to encircle the Earth more than twice.
• The weight of one tabliye segment is 292 tons.
• With the quantity of concrete of 196,000 m³, you could construct 5,150 residential units, each with an area of 100 m². If we assume an average of 4 people per household, you could create a living space for 21,000 people.
• With the amount of steel weighing 109,490 tons, you could manufacture 73,000 automobiles.
The main span deck area of the Osmangazi Bridge is 96,364 m², which is approximately equivalent to the area of 14 large soccer fields.
The 1,120 m section of the South Approach Viaduct deck was constructed using the push-launch method, with the pushing operation of the 22,500-ton deck being the world's largest push-launch operation. Additionally, the remaining 260 m section of the viaduct, consisting of 127 m and 133 m segments, was assembled using the heavy lifting method, with lifts of 2,300 tons and 2,600 tons, marking the world's largest heavy lifting operation.
