Crazy Projects of the Ottoman Empire: Heybeliada-Büyükada Bridge
The chief architect of his period, Sarkis Balyan, proposed a bridge project to Sultan Abdülaziz to provide transportation between Heybeliada and Büyükada.
For many years, the islands remained an area where only religious visits were made, fishing and summer residence functions due to transportation difficulties. With the spread of steamboats in the 1850s, the Muslim population in this area increased, but this brought many problems. One of the main problems was the transportation problem of the islands with each other. The company, named Firma-i Hayriye, which makes local ferry services, sought a solution to this problem by increasing the number of trips to the islands. Especially the connection between the two big islands, Heybeliada and Büyükada, gained importance. Architect Sarkis Balyan presented a bridge project to Abdulaziz regarding this problem while the construction of the Dolmabahçe Palace was underway. The proposal was a 1.200 meters long suspension bridge. The bridge would be built 5-5,5 meters wide, and a penny would be received as a passage fee. It was predicted that the cost of the bridge, which is estimated to pass 300 people a day, will pay off in 50 years.
The bridge was a utopian project and could not be implemented. Leaving aside the financial problems, a bridge project with a length of 1.200 meters in line with the technological know-how of that period was doomed to be shelved.
Source : http://www.arkitera.com
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