Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, Road-rail bridge over the Bosporus, Istanbul, Turkey
The Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge is a combined road-rail crossing over the northern Bosphorus, between Garipçe in Sarıyer on the European side and Poyrazköy in Beykoz on the Asian side. Its light-grey deck runs 2,164 m between two slender towers that rise 322 m and fan out thin stay cables; the deck carries four motorway lanes and one railway track in each direction.
The route was fixed as Garipçe–Poyrazköy in April 2010, and the foundation stone was laid on 29 May 2013, the anniversary of the conquest of Constantinople. The İçtaş–Astaldi consortium built the bridge, which opened on 26 August 2016. It was designed by Swiss engineer Jean-François Klein with French engineer Michel Virlogeux.
The crossing takes its name from an Ottoman ruler of the early 16th century and rises between Black Sea ports and the historic urban core. Many locals use it daily for their commute between two continents, passing over one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.
The crossing charges a toll based on vehicle class, with passenger cars paying 70 Turkish Liras. Travelers approaching the Bosporus from the north can spot the towers from a distance and use the passage in both directions.
The structure uses 176 stay cables, some exceeding half a kilometer in length and containing up to 151 individual strands. These cables carry the full weight of the deck and give the crossing its characteristic shape over the waterway.
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