Transport and Infrastructure Minister Cahit Turhan said Friday that an aeroelastic model wind test for the Çanakkale 1915 Bridge will be carried out in China on Sept. 11.
The test will include the third-stage deck and towers of the bridge that will connect Turkish gulfs and straits for the seventh time. It will be the world's longest suspension bridge once completed.
"The test will be conducted at the Southwest Jaotong University Wind Engineering Research Center in China on a 1/190 scale model to determine whether the wind-bridge interaction will cause significant changes due to the strongest winds," Turhan told Anadolu Agency. The bridge will be inaugurated on March 18, 2022, he added.
Minister Turhan recalled that the deck phase, the first of three-stage wind tunnel tests of the Çanakkale 1915 Bridge, was conducted in Canada on a 1/225 scale model, while the second wind tunnel test on towers was carried out in Denmark, highlighting that successful results were obtained in these tests.
The maximum wind speed in the Dardanelles is 100-120 kilometers per hour, the minister noted. "In the wind test in Denmark, wind speeds of up to 288 kilometers was tested, which would never actually happen. There wasn't even the slightest problem in the test in both the section and the tower," he added.
"Through tests on three dimensional aeroelastic models, studies determine the effect of winds on the construction stages and operation periods of the towers," Turhan added. "The fact that maximum values that can occur even under the influence of the strongest winds are below the permissible limits and that there is no indecision is proven by the aeroelastic tests to be carried out."
Minister Turhan added that implementation projects and detailed calculations for projects would follow after the test is concluded and detailed and the most appropriate sections are determined.
Turhan said that when evaluated on the basis of other ongoing highway projects, the Çanakkale 1915 Bridge, which was opened on March 18 with the attendance of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, will enable uninterrupted connection from Aegean, Western Mediterranean and the western part of Central Anatolia to Thrace and Europe, including the Adana-Konya axis, and that it will provide quick access to target markets without using Istanbul and the strait in freight and passenger transportation in the region. Meanwhile, as part of the Çanakkale 1915 Bridge, one suspension bridge, six viaducts, 10 subway bridges, six bridges, 43 underpasses, 33 overpasses, 12 intersections, four roadside facilities, two maintenance centers and six tolls will be built.
The over two-kilometer-long bridge should cost about TL 10.35 billion ($1.6 billion). It will be 32 meters longer than the current record set by the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge between Kobe and Awaji Island in Japan and will be the longest suspension bridge in the world with a 2,023-meter main span and 318-meter-high towers.