Turkey- Europe and Asia meet again with third bridge over the Bosporus

(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) >The last section of the third bridge over the Bosporus was installed on March 6 bringing togetherEuropeand Asia with a highway and a railway. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoan along with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutolu Transport Minister Binali Yldrm and other ministers and officials attended a ceremony held for the occasion. At the ceremony President Erdoan criticized environmentalists who opposed the project due to concerns it would destroy the city’s northern forests. “Projects like this can only be realized by those who think big” Erdoan said. “They said ‘It cannot be done’ they even came here to protest and here we are” he said at the ceremony held on the bridge. Transport Minister Yldrm praised the project. “Today is a historic day” Yldrm said. “This is the widest suspension bridge of the world that has a railway and no other bridge in the world has been completed in less than three years” he added noting that unlike the first two bridges over the Bosporus the main contractor for the third bridge was a Turkish company. The bridge will be ready to open along with its connecting roads by the end of August said Yldrm. Prime Minister Davutolu thanked President Erdoan and all ministers who contributed to the project as well as the workers and engineers who built the bridge. “This is not only a bridge that brings togetherEuropeand Asia” said Davutolu. “It is a bridge that will bring together hearts too since many engineers and workers behind this project want to have their weddings on this bridge.” Bonus to workers
Following the official ceremony President Erdoan met with workers accompanied by brahim Çeçen chairman of the main contractor IC Holding. After a lengthy negotiation with Çeçen Erdoan convinced him to pay 3000 Turkish Liras of bonus money to every worker who took part in the bridge construction. An estimated total of over 6000 workers will have contributed to the bridge construction.