Turkey weighing bids for new Suspension Bridge over the Dardanelles Strait
A consortium of Turkish and South Korean firms has emerged as the frontrunner to build a 3.6km suspension bridge over the Dardanelles Strait in Turkey that will become one of the landmark bridges of Europe. Also included in the scope of the contract is a 352km, six-lane toll-road.
Ahmet Arslan, the transport minister of Turkey, said that the group had offered to build the project in five and a half years for a price of US$2.68bn, considerably less than the estimate of US$5bn.
That price is comparable to other consortia’s bids, which include both construction and a period to collect tolls from the bridge, but the minister was impressed by the shorter time period in which the Korean-Turkish team promised to recoup its money and hand the bridge back to Turkey, according to Turkey’s according to the Anadolu news agency.
The team is make up of Daelim and SK from South Korea, and two Turkish contractors Limak and Yapi Merkezi.
The work will be awarded on a build, operate, transfer basis, and the Daelim group would recoup its investment by operating the bridge for 16 years, including the construction time.
The bridge, which was designed by Istanbul-based engineer Tekfen, will bear the name of “Canakkale 1915” in honour of the Ottoman Empire’s victory in the battle of Gallipoli. It has been claimed that it will have the longest single span in the world, a record currently held by the $4.6bn Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge between Kobe and Awaji Island in Japan.
