Skip to main content

Turkish highways and bridge project financing secured

The financing package that will pay for Turkey’s €2.43 billion Malkara to Çanakkale highway and 1915 Çanakkale Bridge has now been secured. This follows on from Mott MacDonald completing its technical due diligence of the project documentation. The project will be handled under the PPP model. The centrepiece of the project is the €1.68 billion Çanakkale 1915 bridge. This will be over 4.6km long, with a 2,023m main span that will be the longest in the world for a suspension bridge. It will allow a clearance
June 7, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
The new bridge represents a stepping point for bridge engineering
The financing package that will pay for Turkey’s €2.43 billion Malkara to Çanakkale highway and 1915 Çanakkale Bridge has now been secured. This follows on from 2579 Mott MacDonald completing its technical due diligence of the project documentation. The project will be handled under the PPP model. The centrepiece of the project is the €1.68 billion Çanakkale 1915 bridge. This will be over 4.6km long, with a 2,023m main span that will be the longest in the world for a suspension bridge. It will allow a clearance of 70m at its centre to allow shipping to pass underneath, with 318m high steel towers built on concrete caissons in the Çanakkale Strait. As the bridge is located in a seismic zone, it has been designed to withstand large earthquakes and is also being built to cope with severe winds.


Other construction works include the 88km highway between Malkara and Çanakkale, 48km of connection roads, 35km of access roads, six junctions, four viaducts, 36 overpasses, 33 underpasses and 140 culverts, as well as four service areas and tolling facilities.

Mott MacDonald’s work included reviewing design, construction methodology, operation and maintenance proposals, as well as transaction documents, the project’s budget, construction programme and payment mechanism. The consultancy will now provide construction and operations monitoring services in an ongoing role.

Emre Yukarioglu, Mott MacDonald’s project manager, said: “The project, which involves 24 lenders including local and international banks and export credit agencies, is part of a greater development plan devised by the Turkish Directorate of Highways to complete a ring road around Marmara. Our local team based in Istanbul, supported by long-span bridge experts and our transport advisory team from the UK, worked hard to support a large lending group and comply with the tight timeline to bring the project to financial close.”

Construction of the Malkara – Çanakkale Motorway PPP, which has a concession period of just over 16 years, is expected to be completed by the end of 2021. Other firms involved in the project include Daelim, Limak, SK Engineering and Yapı Merkezi.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Controversial Russian bridge opens
    August 10, 2018
    The first stage of a controversial Russian bridge project is now complete, with the link having been opened to use by cars and buses. The Kerch Strait bridge spans the Black Sea, connecting Russia’s Taman Peninsula in Krasnodar with Crimea, the latter having been controversially annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014. The official opening of the 19km-long bridge was carried out by Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, who drove across the link in a Russian-manufactured Kamaz truck to reach the city of Kerch.
  • Asphalt plant for Turkish highway project
    June 27, 2018
    An asphalt plant from Ammann is playing a key role in the construction of a new Turkish highway. An important factor in the selection of the plant for the construction of Turkey’s Northern Marmara Motorway was its ability to utilise fibres. A large portion of the motorway, which serves as a bypass of Istanbul, has been completed. Handling a good deal of the remaining work is Nalbantolu naat, a family-owned business founded in 1995. The company has completed a number of high-profile projects, including
  • New Bosporus crossing construction commencing
    June 3, 2013
    Work to construct the new Bosporus crossing in Turkey is now underway. This will be Istanbul's third bridge over the Bosporus and is aimed to open for traffic within two years. Construction is being carried out by a consortium that includes Italian company Astaldi and Turkish firm IC Ictas. The project is expected to cost in the region of US$5.83 billion. The bridge will carry eight highway lanes as well as two rail lines. When complete it will be longest suspension bridge in the world that carries rail lin
  • Kronprinsesse Marys Bro bridges Roskilde Fjord
    January 10, 2019
    A BESIX joint venture is giving the royal treatment to the new Kronprinsesse Marys Bro across Roskilde Fjord, writes David Arminas It was announced in September 2016 that Belgian group BESIX, in a joint venture (RBAI) with Italian firm Rizzani de Eccher and Spanish company Acciona Infraestructuras, had been chosen for the €133 million project. The award, by client Vejdirektoratet (Danish Road Directorate), marked the entry of BESIX into the Scandinavian market. Vejdirektoratet praised the winning bid as