TURKEY‘S BRIDGE BUILT WITH S. KOREAN TECH

[Anchor Lead]

Turkey has unveiled the world’s longest suspension bridge. Connecting Asia and Europe, the 3,500-meter-long bridge was built with South Korean technology and materials.

[Pkg]

A grand suspension bridge lies over the Dardanelles Strait, which runs between Asia and Europe. The Çanakkale Bridge is 3,563 meters long. It is the world’s longest suspension bridge. It used to take over an hour to cross the strait by ship. Now the bridge will significantly reduce the travel time.

[Soundbite] Recep Tayyip Erdoğan(President of Turkey) : “Now it takes just six minutes to go the same distance through the Çanakkale Bridge.”

Building a suspension bridge is difficult. The Turkish bridge was built with Korean technology from design to construction.

[Soundbite] Woo Young-jin(DL E&C) : “This proves our outstanding technology to build a suspension bridge. We have successfully completed the project from financing to designing and construction.”

Its main towers are the tallest in the world. The distance between them are a world record breaking 2,023 meters. It broke the 2-kilometer technological barrier. Safety was boosted to ensure the bridge can withstand strong winds in the strait, which blow 91 meters per second. Some 17,000 workers were mobilized for the four-year project. It used concrete enough to build 2,300 apartments as well as steel sheets to manufacture 150 airplanes. The Turkish government predicts that with the bridge, it will be able to save over 400 euros annually.

[Soundbite] (Official at Turkey’s state-owned expressway corporation) : “The main goal of this project is to connect trade routes, shorten distance and save time.”

The South Korean firm will maintain, repair and operate the bridge for the next 12 years with its Turkish partner.