Bosphorus Bridge

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Bosphorus Bridge 15 Temmuz Şehitler Köprüsü
The Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul spans the Bosphorus strait and connects Europe and Asia
Coordinates	41°02′43″N 29°02′04″E / 41.04528°N 29.03444°E / 41.04528; 29.03444
Carries	6 lanes of O-1
Crosses	Bosphorus strait
Locale	Istanbul
Official name	15 July Martyrs Bridge
Other name(s)	First Bridge
Maintained by	General Directorate of Highways
Preceded by	Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge
Characteristics
Design	Suspension bridge
Material	Steel
Total length	1,560 m (5,118 ft)[1]
Width	33.40 m (110 ft)[1]
Height	165 m (541 ft)[1]
Longest span	1,074 m (3,524 ft)[1]
Clearance below	64 m (210 ft)[1]
History
Designer	Gilbert Roberts William Brown Michael Parsons
Engineering design by	Freeman Fox & Partners Enka Construction & Industry Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company Hochtief AG
Construction start	20 February 1970
Construction end	1 June 1973
Opened	30 October 1973
Statistics
Daily traffic	200,000[2]
Toll	15 Turkish Lira (0,43€ as of 26.03.2024)
Location

The Bosphorus Bridge (Turkish: Boğaziçi Köprüsü), known officially as the 15 July Martyrs Bridge (Turkish: 15 Temmuz Şehitler Köprüsü) and colloquially as the First Bridge (Turkish: Birinci Köprü), is the oldest and southernmost of the three suspension bridges spanning the Bosphorus strait (Turkish: Boğaziçi) in Istanbul, Turkey, thus connecting Europe and Asia (alongside the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge and Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge). The bridge extends between Ortaköy (in Europe) and Beylerbeyi (in Asia).

It is a gravity-anchored suspension bridge with steel towers and inclined hangers.^[1] The aerodynamic deck hangs on steel cables. It is 1,560 m (5,118 ft)^[1] long with a deck width of 33.40 m (110 ft).^[1] The distance between the towers (main span) is 1,074 m (3,524 ft)^[1] and the total height of the towers is 165 m (541 ft).^[1] The clearance of the bridge from sea level is 64 m (210 ft).^[1]

Upon its completion in 1973, the Bosphorus Bridge had the fourth-longest suspension bridge span in the world, and the longest outside the United States (only the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, Golden Gate Bridge and Mackinac Bridge had a longer span in 1973).^[3][4] The Bosphorus Bridge remained the longest suspension bridge in Europe until the completion of the Humber Bridge in 1981, and the longest suspension bridge in Asia until the completion of the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge (Second Bosphorus Bridge) in 1988 (which was surpassed by the Minami Bisan-Seto Bridge in 1989). Currently, the Bosphorus Bridge has the 40th-longest suspension bridge span in the world.

After a group of soldiers took control and partially closed off the bridge during the military coup d'état attempt on 15 July 2016, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım proclaimed on 25 July 2016 the decision of the Cabinet of Turkey that the bridge will be formally renamed as the 15 Temmuz Şehitler Köprüsü (July 15th Martyrs Bridge) in memory of those killed while resisting the attempted coup.^[5][6][7]

The Bosphorus Bridge is famous for its important transport routes, connecting parts of Europe to Turkey.