The Second Bosphorus Bridge, The Giant That Changed Istanbul

In 1973, the first Bosphorus Bridge was inaugurated in Istanbul, one of three bridges today that connect the two halves of the city, the Asian side and the European side. However, it quickly became clear that this bridge alone would not be enough to relieve the city’s traffic congestion or handle the growing number of vehicles crossing the strait every day. Thus, in 1983, work began on the second bridge, the “Fatih Sultan Mehmet,” the fifth-longest suspension bridge in the world at the time of its completion (1988), with a main span of 1,090 meters (total length of 1.5 km) and towers reaching 107 meters in height.

This new large-scale project addressed the need to modernize Turkey’s capital and offer infrastructure capable of connecting a much larger area than the city itself, extending from the city of Kinali in Thrace (Europe) to the vicinity of the Sakarya River in Anatolia (Asia). The construction of the second bridge, part of a vast 247 km highway connection, was led by a joint venture headed by the Webuild Group.

From the moment it was inaugurated, it was evident that this new infrastructure would become a “timeless” work due to its ability to change people’s lives and, by extension, the destiny of a city and a country looking towards Europe with a strong push towards modernity. In 2024, Istanbul’s metropolitan area officially surpassed 16 million residents, projected to reach 18 million by 2030.

The second Bosphorus Bridge has truly shaped Istanbul’s future, both in terms of transportation and economic and urban development. First and foremost, it addressed the need to unite two sides of the Bosphorus in an area that was previously isolated, leading to the birth of new populous districts on both the European and Asian sides. Within seven years of its completion, Istanbul grew in area by 30%; commercial exchanges around the bridge increased by 31.8%; and toll revenues exceeded $2 billion. The infrastructure is crossed by 200,000 vehicles daily, equivalent to the total traffic across all the bridges in New York City.

The second Bosphorus Bridge remains one of the most beautiful and functional infrastructure works in the world. Its design took into account the region’s characteristics, an area prone to severe seismic activity. The main span, measuring 3 meters thick and 39.4 meters wide, is made of steel to be flexible and resistant to any type of stress. In its construction, 600,000 cubic meters of rock were excavated, 51.5 km of cables were used, along with 16,310 tons of steel and 140,000 cubic meters of concrete. Finally, the construction timeframe was record-breaking: starting on December 4, 1985, the first phase was completed in just two years, and the entire project was finished on February 4, 1988, well ahead of schedule.