10th International Steel Bridges Symposium Started in Istanbul

Organized by the Turkish Structural Steel Association (TUCSA), the 10th International Steel Bridges Symposium started in Istanbul on Wednesday, September 21 with the participation of General Manager of Highways Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, Deputy General Manager Selahattin Bayramçavuş, managers and local and foreign sector representatives who are experts in their fields.

“We are building works that serve humanity and increase road comfort”

Uraloğlu drew attention to the importance of the symposium; “While building works that serve humanity and increase road comfort; We also attach great importance to organizations that enable us to showcase our works and demonstrate the rightful prestige we have gained in the international arena.” said.

Our General Manager stated that he believed that the two-day event with the theme of “five steel suspension bridges connecting Europe to Asia” will also be a mirror of 15 years of development from the 50 July Martyrs Bridge, Turkey's first steel suspension bridge.

Underlining that the construction of the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge after the 15 July Martyrs Bridge, the divided road works that started to be implemented in 2003 within the scope of the Emergency Action Plan, and the highways implemented with the Build-Operate-Transfer method in the 2010s, are important developments that accelerate the construction of bridges in our country. Our manager said that many steel bridges have been implemented with different methods.

“1915 Çanakkale Bridge, The World's Largest Mid-Span Suspension Bridge”

Stating that only in the last few years, great works such as Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, Osmangazi Bridge, 1915 Çanakkale Bridge, Nissibi Bridge, Ağın Bridge, Kömürhan Bridge, Tohma Bridge have been brought to our country, General Manager Uraloğlu said; “The 1915 Çanakkale Bridge, which we put into service in March this year, is the World's Largest Mid-Span Suspension Bridge with a median span of 2.023 meters, and also became the first bridge to exceed the middle span of 2 thousand meters. The bridge with a total crossing length of 4.608 m with its side spans and approach viaducts; It is the bridge of symbols where knowledge, experience, experience and aesthetics come together. In 1915 Çanakkale Bridge, considering the high wind speeds of the region, a 9 m wide orthotropic twin box-section steel deck with a 45 m middle refuge space was used.” used his statements.

Stating that they aim to increase the length of the bridge in the road network to 2023 km in 771, Uraloğlu said that they connected the northern part of the city to the universities, the City Hospital, the stadium and the Adana-Mersin Highway uninterruptedly with the 1.669 m-long Adana 15 July Martyrs Bridge, Bitlis Stream Viaduct. announced that they are continuing the construction of Yusufeli Central Viaduct and many other bridge projects.

Underlining that they also continue their maintenance work on the art structures, Uraloğlu said that they ensure that the bridges provide comfortable and safe transportation throughout their service life, and within this scope, 1.343 bridges have been repaired and 414 historical bridges have been restored in the last twenty years.

Emphasizing that while raising the road standard as a country, they had the opportunity to apply the most advanced bridge technologies and construction techniques, the General Manager said that they also achieved significant gains in terms of knowledge with each project implemented; Our country, which started the construction of steel suspension bridges by importing technology 50 years ago, is now building projects almost entirely consisting of domestic engineering; He also stated that the companies in the sector are equipped to undertake the construction of many projects in various continents and countries of the world.