Azerbaijan, Baku, 28 Feb. / Trend A.Taghiyeva /
Construction of a third bridge over the Bosporus Strait in Istanbul will begin in May of this year, the general director of the Astaldi-IC İçtaş joint venture Ibrahim Chechen said, Hürriyet newspaper reported on Thursday. The joint venture won the tender.
According to Chechen, the joint venture has reached agreements with seven Turkish banks over extension of credit for the construction of the bridge. The cost of this project is estimated at $2.4 billion, he said.
Chechen also noted that the construction of the bridge will be completed by 2015 when it will be put in operation.
Earlier, the ministry of Transport, Shipping and Communications of Turkey said that the third bridge over the Bosphorus will be 10 lanes. It will be built by the private sector on a 'build-operate-transfer' basis. The period of construction and operation of the bridge is 10 years.
The report said that the construction of the third bridge in Istanbul will contribute to fuelling the economy by $1.4 billion.