Baku, Azerbaijan, July 1
By Rufiz Hafizoglu – Trend:
Turkey has commissioned a bridge which will link the Kocaeli and Yalova provinces in the country’s north-west, TRT Haber news channel reported.
The opening ceremony was attended by Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.
The new bridge has been named after the founder of Ottoman Empire Osman Ghazi.
The foundation of the bridge across the Izmit Bay was laid March 30, 2013. The bridge’s length is 2,682 meters and it is the second longest bridge in Europe.
The bridge across the Izmit Bay of the Sea of Marmara is a part of construction of the Gebze-Orhangazi-Izmir motorway which will make it possible to reduce the travel time from Istanbul to Izmir to 3.5 hours.
The project cost $9 billion.
Addressing the opening ceremony, Erdogan said that the transit across the bridge will be free until the end of the Ramadan holiday.
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