The Bosphorus Bridge also called the First Bosphorus Bridge (Turkish: Boğaziçi Köprüsü or 1. Boğaziçi Köprüsü) is a bridge in Istanbul, Turkey spanning the Bosporus strait (Turkish: Boğaziçi). The bridge is located between Ortaköy (European side) and Beylerbeyi (Asian side). It is a gravity anchored suspension bridge with steel pylons and inclined hangers. The aerodynamic deck is hanging on zigzag steel cables. It is 1,510 m long with a deck width of 39 m. The distance between the towers (main span) is 1,074 m (World rank 2004: 12th) and their height over road level is 105 m. The clearance of the bridge from the sea level is 64 m.

The decision to build a bridge across the Bosporus was taken in 1957 by Prime Minister Adnan Menderes. For the structural engineering work, a contract was signed with the British firm Freeman Fox & Partners in 1968. The designer was the Englishman Gilbert Roberts . The construction started in February 1970, the ceremonies were attended by President Cevdet Sunay and Prime Minister Süleyman Demirel. The construction was carried out by the Turkish firm Enka Construction & Industry Co. along with the co-contractors Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Co. Ltd. (England) and Hochtief AG (Germany). 35 engineers and 400 men worked on the project. It was completed on October 30, 1973, one day after the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey, and opened by President Fahri Korutürk and Prime Minister Naim Talu . Ernest Frederick, a civil engineer working for the US government and stationed in Turkey at the time, was the first American to cross the bridge. American comedian and Ambassador for UNICEF Danny Kaye, dressed like a clown, followed him with a pack of Turkish children. As a huge crowd of people started to run after them, the bridge came in vibration, and the crowd had to be held back to avoid any damage. The cost of the bridge amounted to USD 200 million.

The highway bridge has three lanes for vehicular traffic plus one emergency lane and one sidewalk in each direction. On weekday mornings, commuter traffic flows mostly westbound to the European part, so four of the six lanes run westbound and only two eastbound. Conversely, on weekday evenings, four lanes are dedicated to eastbound traffic and two lanes only to westbound. In the first four years, pedestrians could walk over the bridge, reaching it with elevators inside the towers on both sides. No pedestrians and commercial vehicles like trucks and coaches are allowed to use the bridge today. Nowadays, around 180,000 vehicles are passing daily in both directions, almost 85% being automobiles. On December 29, 1997, the one-billionth vehicle passed the bridge. Fully loaded, the bridge sags about 90cm in the middle of the span.

It is a toll bridge, and a toll plaza with 13 toll booths is situated after the bridge on the Asian side. Toll is paid for one way passing from the European side to the Asian side. Since 1999, some of the toll booths (#9 - #13), located to the far left as motorists approach them, are unmanned and equipped only with remote payment system (Turkish: OGS) in order to enable fast through passing.

The traditional international Eurasia Marathon, organized annually in October, starts from the Anatolian part of Istanbul, crosses the Bosporus on the bridge and ends in the European part during which the bridge is closed to the vehicular traffic.

Jumping from the bridge is a rather common method to commit suicide.

The Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge known also as the Second Bosporus Bridge is located about five km north of this bridge.

See also

Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge

External Links

• Live traffic camera pictures http://www.ibb.gov.tr/istanbultr/310/c_1_3.htm
• http://www.structurae.net/structures/data/index.cfm?ID=s0001368