The groundbreaking ceremony of the bridge to be built on the Sazlıdere Dam within the scope of the Kanal Istanbul Project was held with the participation of President Erdoğan and Minister Karaismailoğlu.
Karaismailoğlu said, “When Canal Istanbul is completed, we will ensure the safety of life and property of our citizens in and around the Bosphorus, as well as protecting the historical and cultural texture of the Bosphorus; It will alleviate the traffic load of the Bosphorus. According to our simulations, Kanal Istanbul will be 13 times safer than the Bosphorus in terms of navigational safety.”
The groundbreaking ceremony of the bridge, which will be built over the Sazlıdere Dam, the last link of the Northern Marmara Highway, as part of the Kanal Istanbul project, was held with the participation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoğlu. Deputy President Fuat Oktay, Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Mustafa Şentop, AK Party Deputy Chairman Binali Yıldırım and State Officials accompanied the ceremony.
While President Erdoğan stated, “We aim to complete Kanal Istanbul in 15 years with a cost of approximately 6 billion dollars”; Minister Karaismailoğlu said, “With Kanal Istanbul, Turkey's role in maritime transport will be strengthened. Istanbul Airport, Northern Marmara Highway, ports, railway connections and Kanal Istanbul, one of the biggest projects in the world, will connect the world to Turkey," he said.
The increase in ship traffic in the Bosphorus creates great pressure and threat on Istanbul
Pointing out that the increase in ship traffic in the Bosphorus and the increase in the number of tankers carrying dangerous goods passing through the Bosphorus pose a great pressure and threat on the world heritage Istanbul, Minister Karaismailoğlu said, “In the 1930s, the number of ships passing through the Turkish Straits per year was around 3. Today, an average of 45 ships pass through each year. There is a very serious risk of accident in the city ferries and ferries that carry 54 thousand passengers a day at 500 piers. Considering that the annual capacity for the safe passage of ships using the Bosphorus is 25 thousand; It is better understood how the ship traffic load, which is approximately 45 thousand today and will increase to 78 thousand in the coming years, threatens the navigation, life, property and environmental safety of the Bosphorus. These show clearly how much there is a need for an alternative transit route in the Bosphorus," he said.
“Canal Istanbul will be 13 times safer than the Bosphorus in terms of navigational safety”
Minister Karaismailoğlu stated that 204 scientists were involved in the engineering works of Kanal Istanbul and spoke as follows:
“When Canal Istanbul is completed, especially ensuring the safety of life and property of our citizens in and around the Bosphorus, as well as protecting the historical and cultural texture of the Bosphorus; It will alleviate the traffic load of the Bosphorus. According to our simulations, Kanal Istanbul will be 13 times safer than the Bosphorus in terms of navigational safety. Therefore, our country's economic goals to reach; We aim to build Kanal Istanbul effectively, efficiently and quickly with the aim of increasing the welfare level of the society.”
“The Black Sea will turn into a trade lake”
Emphasizing that with the Kanal Istanbul Project, Turkey will take a larger share from the international transportation and logistics corridors and play a more active role in global trade, Minister Karaismailoğlu noted that the Black Sea will turn into a Trade Lake with the project.
Karaismailoğlu, who also gave information about the bridge whose foundation was laid, said, "Our bridge, whose foundation we laid today, is a part of the 45 km Başakşehir-Bahçeşehir-Hadımköy road, and will also provide the passage of the Sazlıdere section of Canal Istanbul. The main span of our bridge, which is in the type of taut inclined suspension bridge, is 440 meters, and the inclined suspension bridge deck is 46 meters wide and 2×4 lanes wide. Together with the approach viaducts, the total length of our bridge will be 1618 meters. This strategic move that emerged in line with the technological and economic developments in the world and in our country, changing economic trends and the increasing needs of our country in terms of transportation infrastructures; By making our country a global logistics base, it will have a say both in its region and in the world trade and transportation routes.”
This project is also needed to secure the historical and cultural texture of the Bosphorus.
Emphasizing that the aim of the Kanal Istanbul Project is to ensure the safety of life and property of the citizens in and around the Bosphorus, President Erdoğan said, “This project is also needed to secure the historical and cultural texture of the Bosphorus. Only 11 scientists from 51 different universities and a total of 204 experts worked on the project. Lightening the load of ship traffic, reducing the waiting times at the entrance and exit of the Bosphorus, and eliminating the problems caused by the difficulty of navigation in the Bosphorus are among the aims of the project. We believe that the residential areas with a population of 500 thousand planned on both sides of the canal will also remove the pressure in the center of Istanbul. I would like to underline once again that all engineering and EIA studies of Kanal Istanbul, each of which requires separate labor, are carried out in the light of science and technology, and in the pursuit of law. I would like to express my gratitude to our ministers, mayors, companies, engineers, experts and everyone who took part in this whole process, assumed responsibility and contributed.”
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