# Longest suspension bridge opens in March 2022 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 16, 2022, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-suspension-bridge-opens-in-march-2022/962934 "2022-04-16T22:48:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-suspension-bridge-opens-in-march-2022/962934/1 "2022-04-16T22:48:14Z")
For all you highway/bridge enthusiasts out there, maybe you missed the news of the recent opening of the longest bridge in the world, across the Dardanelles Strait in Turkey, like I did. Google Street view covered its approaches in February. Here’s the Wikipedia report: The **1915 Çanakkale Bridge** ([Turkish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_language): _1915 Çanakkale Köprüsü_ ), also known as the **Dardanelles Bridge** ( _Çanakkale Boğaz Köprüsü_ ), is a road [suspension bridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_bridge) in the province of [Çanakkale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%87anakkale_Province) in northwestern [Turkey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey). Situated just south of the coastal towns of [Lapseki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapseki) and [Gelibolu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelibolu), the bridge spans the [Dardanelles strait](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dardanelles), about 10 km (6.2 mi) south of the [Sea of Marmara](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_of_Marmara).[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1915_%C3%87anakkale_Bridge#cite_note-rt1-2) The bridge was officially opened by [President](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Turkey) [Recep Tayyip Erdoğan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recep_Tayyip_Erdo%C4%9Fan) on 18 March 2022 after roughly five years of construction.[[4]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1915_%C3%87anakkale_Bridge#cite_note-cnn220319-4) The year “1915” in the official Turkish name honours an important [Ottoman naval victory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_operations_in_the_Dardanelles_campaign#Battle_of_18_March) against the British and the French during [World War I](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I). The bridge is the [longest suspension bridge in the world](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longest_suspension_bridge_spans)—with a main [span](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Span_(engineering)) of 2,023 m (6,637 ft), the bridge surpasses the [Akashi Kaikyo Bridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akashi_Kaikyo_Bridge) (1998) in Japan by 32 m (105 ft). It is the centrepiece of the planned 321-kilometre long (199 mi) US$2.8 billion [Kınalı-Balıkesir Motorway](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C4%B1nal%C4%B1-Bal%C4%B1kesir_Motorway), which will connect the [O-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otoyol_3) and [O-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otoyol_7) motorways in [East Thrace](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Thrace) to the [O-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otoyol_5) motorway in [Anatolia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatolia). [[5]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1915_%C3%87anakkale_Bridge#cite_note-hdn2-5) The bridge is the first [fixed crossing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed_crossing) over the Dardanelles[[6]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1915_%C3%87anakkale_Bridge#cite_note-6) and the sixth one across the [Turkish Straits](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_Straits), after three bridges over the [Bosphorus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosporus) and two tunnels under it.[[7]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1915_%C3%87anakkale_Bridge#cite_note-7) ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2022, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-suspension-bridge-opens-in-march-2022/962934/2 "2022-04-17T15:59:44Z")
Cool. Doubt I’ll ever see it though. When the new Oakland span of the Bay Bridge opened in 2013 my wife and I drove across it on that first day. That was memorable. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2022, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-suspension-bridge-opens-in-march-2022/962934/3 "2022-04-17T17:16:14Z")
A bridge that long has to take the curvature of the earth into consideration. If it were built flat, it wouldn’t last. Math doesn’t care about your beliefs. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2022, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-suspension-bridge-opens-in-march-2022/962934/4 "2022-04-18T06:08:55Z")
When I was in Istanbul in 1980 I took a ferry across the Bosporus so I could say I had visited Asia. 5 minutes later I jumped on the return ferry. There were no bridges at the time. I have since been to Asia and it looks a lot different. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2022, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-suspension-bridge-opens-in-march-2022/962934/5 "2022-04-18T09:03:30Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > A bridge that long has to take the curvature of the earth into consideration. Over the length of that bridge, the curvature of the earth represents a differential of about 32 centimeters from a straight line, or approximately one foot – a surprisingly large amount, really. Our planet isn’t all that big. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2022, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-suspension-bridge-opens-in-march-2022/962934/6 "2022-04-18T17:15:54Z")
Another not so surprising thing: the recent Tour Of Turkey cycle race went over the newly opened bridge in order to show it off. j ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2022, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-suspension-bridge-opens-in-march-2022/962934/7 "2022-04-19T02:20:41Z")
This is amazing to me. I was in Istanbul in 1980 and there were only ferries to get across, I actually took one and stood on solid ground and then came back immediately just so I could say that I had been to Asia. I have since been to real Asia. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2022, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-suspension-bridge-opens-in-march-2022/962934/8 "2022-04-19T05:51:12Z")
Is there an echo in here? ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2022, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-suspension-bridge-opens-in-march-2022/962934/9 "2022-04-19T06:48:48Z")
> [@Darryl\_Lict](#): > > This is amazing to me. I was in Istanbul in 1980 and there were only ferries to get across, I actually took one and stood on solid ground and then came back immediately just so I could say that I had been to Asia. I have since been to real Asia. The first bridge across the Bosphorus in Instanbul was already in use well before 1980.