Osman Gazi Bridge, Turkey

In 2016 Turkey welcomed yet another giant, the Osman Gazi Bridge, a cable-stayed suspension bridge (the sixth longest in the world at the time of its opening), with two 252 meter high steel pylons. Built on the eastern shore of the Sea of Marmara, 50 kilometers southeast of Istanbul, the bridge is part of a larger project that includes the construction of the Gebze-Orhangazi-Izmir highway, an infrastructure that has had an extraordinary impact on the transportation in the region.

Thanks to this work, it now takes only 6 minutes to cross the Gulf of Izmit  compared to the 60 minutes it took before the inauguration of the bridge, due to traffic in the area. The bridge, 3 kilometers long with a main span of 1,550 meters, a historic change, is located in one of the most seismic risk areas in the world. Cutting-edge technology allowed this enormous infrastructure, which contributes crucially to Turkey's development and growth, to be completed in less than four years.