USING CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY TO BUILD A MODERN SUSPENSION BRIDGE

Check out how modern construction technology is used to build a suspension bridge.

Watching the construction of any massive man-made object is fascinating, it is a sight to behold, especially when it defies the laws of physics. That's why time-laps videos like the one below are so incredible to watch. In this case, it is the construction of the Osman Gazi suspension bridge in Turkey.

The Osman Gazi suspension bridge spans 2,620 metres across the Gulf of Izmit in Turkey, connecting the city of Gebze to the Yalova Province along the O-5 motorway. Thanks to modern technology, construction on the six-lane bridge lasted for three years, from March 2013 to June 2016 and it is built from concrete and 34,000 tons of steel.

Most of the fabrication took place offsite before being trucked in. They were then loaded onto massive ships to be transported into the gulf and hoisted into position by cranes. The Osman Gazi suspension bridge is the largest in Turkey and the fourth largest in the world, with the central of three spans covering a distance of 1,550 metres.

Once completed, the suspension bridge reduced travel time between Istanbul and Izmir from six-and-a-half hours to three-and-a-half hours, cutting out a 140km trip around the Gulf of Izmit. Fun fact; during a speed trial the day before the opening of the bridge, five-time Supersport World Champion, Kenan Sofuoğlu, traversed the bridge in 26 seconds on his track-only Kawasaki Ninja H2R, reaching 400kph top speed.

But, before he could do that, the Osman Gazi suspension bridge had to be built. Check out how they did it in the video by Machinery Magazine below.