Two new tunnel links for Turkey

Two new tunnel connections in Turkey will improve transport in key areas. The new Kemerhisar-Pozanti Highway features tunnels along its length and this key route will improve connections between the country’s capital Ankara and its commercial centre Istanbul as well as to the south-east of the country. The highway will have wider benefits too as it will allow better transportation through Turkey between Europe and the Middle East. And in the busy port city of Izmir, the new Konak Tunnel will reduce jour
August 28, 2013 Read time: 3 mins
The new Konak Tunnel in the port city of Izmir will cut journey times

Two new tunnel connections in Turkey will improve transport in key areas. The new Kemerhisar-Pozanti Highway features tunnels along its length and this key route will improve connections between the country’s capital Ankara and its commercial centre Istanbul as well as to the south-east of the country.

The highway will have wider benefits too as it will allow better transportation through Turkey between Europe and the Middle East. And in the busy port city of Izmir, the new Konak Tunnel will reduce journey times considerably.

Once the tunnel link is complete it will cut congestion between between Konak and Yeildere in the city.

In addition, 2643 Egis has signed a contract for the operation and maintenance of the Gebze-zmir highway in Turkey. The agreement was signed with OTOYOL, the concessionaire for the Turkish General Directorate of Highways (3337 KGM). This is the second major contract award for Egis in Turkey, following the Eurasia Tunnel deal, for a 5.4km twin-deck tunnel under the Bosphorus.

OTOYOL was selected by KGM as the private concessionaire for the project, and is itself a firm established for the purpose of the project by five Turkish companies: 3338 Nurol naat ve Ticaret; Özaltin naat Ticaret ve Sanayi; 3340 Makyol naat Sanayi Turizm ve Ticaret; 4149 Yüksel naat; 3342 Göçay naat Taahhüt ve Ticaret; and one Italian company, 1324 Astaldi.

After a competitive bidding process, Egis was selected by OTOYOL as its operation partner.

Gebze-Izmir Project

The Gebze-zmir Project is a tolled highway project procured by KGM under a build, operate and transfer (BOT) model. This is the largest BOT project in Turkey to date. It includes 420km of highway (2x3 lanes) between Gebze (on the North shore of zmit Bay) and zmir, as well as a 3km suspension bridge crossing zmit bay, three tunnels with a total length of 6km and 20 toll stations.

The project will be implemented in two phases. The first phase from Gebze to km 58 will include the 3km Izmit bay suspension bridge which is one of the longest suspension bridges in the world by the length of central span.

There is considerable requirement in Turkey for additional roads and highways as the country’s vehicle population is growing significantly. The number of registered vehicles in the country increased by 2% in April 2013 to reach 17.35 million, and in the period from January-April 2013, 372,000 new vehicles were registered while 55,000 old vehicles were removed from the registry.

Out of the total 17.35 million vehicles, 51% are passenger cars; 16.4% pick-up trucks; 15.5% motorbikes; 8.8% tractors; 4.3% trucks; 2.3% minibuses; 1.4% coaches; and 0.2% special-use vehicles.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Republic of Ireland’s N25 New Ross Bypass achieves financial close
    March 3, 2016
    The €230 million N25 New Ross Bypass public-private partnership (PPP) project in County Wexford, Republic of Ireland has reached financial close. Mott MacDonald is technical advisor on the public-private partnership, awarded by the National Roads Authority, otherwise known as Transport Infrastructure Ireland. Work will be carried out by BAM Ireland and Dragados, a construction division of ACS Group, based in Spain. The scheme involves construction of 13.6km of dual carriageway and 1.2km of new or u
    Read More
  • Making the U-turn
    August 2, 2012
    Political hostility to a toll road project in Australia has been turned around by the quality and amenity of the project writes Adrian Greeman Cars, trucks and vans were taking to the new EastLink toll road in Melbourne with enthusiasm this July, pleased to try out its 39km route for time and cost savings. As well as the convenience of the uncongested route, drivers were also able to view an extraordinary multi-shaded perspective of transparent green and orange noise wall panels, burnt earth-coloured retai
    Read More
  • China opens record-breaking bridge
    April 11, 2012
    China has opened the world's longest bridge over water, the 41.58km Jiaozhou Bay Bridge, which is said to have cost well over US$2 billion to build. It links the eastern port city of Qingdao to Huangdao Island across Jiaozhou Bay and is 4km longer than the previous longest bridge over water, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in Louisiana, USA. Opened in June, 2011 after four years of construction, the link is expected to carry some 30,000 vehicle/day and will reduce travel time by 30 minutes, although it is o
    Read More
  • Weigh in motion technology reduces road damage
    February 8, 2012
    Overweight vehicles cause enormous damage to road structures but they can be caught, even at high speed. Weigh-in-motion or WIM devices are designed to capture and record axle weights and gross vehicle weights as vehicles drive over a measurement site.
    Read More

Highlighted Content