Key points
- An Australian crane company has played a critical role in the construction of the world's longest suspension bridge in Turkey.
- The bridge over Dardanelles is just 50 km from Anzac Cove where the Anzacs landed during WWI in 1915.
- Due to the massive lifting capacity of the cranes, the bridge's construction will complete in 2022, instead of 2023.
An Australian crane company has played a critical role in the construction of the towers for the 1915Çanakkale Bridge, a Turkish nation-building project, a stone’s throw away from where the Anzacs landed in 1915.
The Turkish Government has named the bridge in honour and remembrance of the 1915 Çanakkale War between the Turkish and the Allied forces during World War I on the same shores where the bridge is being built. The 1915Çanakkale bridge is now scheduled to open in 2022 to mark 99 years of the modern Turkish republic.
“Having an Australian company involved the project is very meaningful because the bridge has a connection to the past, to 1915, to Gallipoli, to the Anzacs, and to Australia somehow,” 1915Çanakkale CEO Mustafa Tanriverdi tells SBS Turkish.
“Yes, a century ago, we faced each other under different conditions. To put it frankly we were opponents then for reasons we can’t fully comprehend now. But whatever the past, we are friends now, working together. We are business partners supporting each other. We are now holding each other’s hand.”
“The bridge connects our past to our future. It is located where the Turkish war of independence was fought and won. It pays tribute to the martyrs lying there, both Turkish and Australians,” Mr Tanriverdi says.
Once completed, it will be the longest span suspension bridge in the world with a central span of 2,023 metres and the total length of 4,608 metres, connecting Gallipoli on the European side with Lapseki on the Asian side.
A Turkish-Korean consortium won the tender to construct the bridge and a connected a ring road around the Marmara Sea three years ago. They chose an Australian company to build the 318-metre towers to support the bridge.
The final two 155 tonne pieces were installed at the top of the towers in June 2020. In a world record, the world’s largest cranes with 330-tonne lifting capacity took just 30 minutes to position each piece 318 metres above the sea.
Mustafa Tanriverdi (left) and Dan Wolski Source: The Men From Marr's
The original plan was for the bridge to be completed in time for for the 100th anniversary of the Turkish Republic in 2023. But due to the massive lifting capacity of the Australian operated cranes, the projected opening date was able to be brought forward to 2022.
“The lifting capacity of our cranes has been a game changer for this project and will potentially change the way our industry looks at how bridges can be built,” says Simon Marr, Contracting Managing Director of Men from Marr’s.
The bridge will connect the towns of Gelibolu (Gallipoli) on the European side of Turkey with Lapseki on the Asian side and provide a heavy transit alternative to the Istanbul Strait passage.
Source: The Men From Marr's
An international team including Australians, Turks, Koreans, Dutch, Japanese, Iranians, Filipinos and Brits have been working together under strict COVID-19 restrictions. Each day they travel between the worksite and their lockdown accommodation near Gelibolu.
Australian Construction Superintendent Dan Wolski has been working at the site for 18 months. Before the pandemic, he would visit Australia every 12 weeks.
“For the last five months, we haven’t left here. Seven Turks, seven Australians, seven English and two Filipinos are stuck in a hotel for three months. The bus picks us up every morning to take us to the site and drops us off every evening. We don’t socialise or even go to the shop,” he says.
But he says it was very exciting for him to come to Gallipoli as a patriotic Australian.
“I thought it would be a very remarkable experience to come and work here. I was very excited about it,” Mr Wolski says.
“Turkish people are very patriotic themselves. I get along very well with my Turkish friends. We connect very well, not only at work but also in the community.”
The Turks working on the project also seem to have developed a fondness for the Australians.
Source: The Men From Marr's
1915Canakkale CEO Mustafa Tanriverdi wrote a touching letter to Marr’s to show solidarity during the bushfires last year.
“People look at who is around when things are bad. I just wanted to show we are thinking about Australia,” he said.
Mr Tanriverdi wonders if the members of the Australian rock band Men at Work are still alive.
“They had a song called ‘Down Under’ which I still listen to,” he said. “I didn’t know what ‘Down Under’ meant then.”
The Men from Marr’s have completed their task on the Dardanelles. Dismantling the giant cranes will take up to ten days, and they will be shipped back to Australia.
