The Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge was inaugurated
today at a ceremony attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoðan. The hybrid
bridge's 1,408-metre span fitted with Freyssinet cables sets the new world
record for cable-stayed span length.
The Yavuz Sultan Selim hybrid cable-stayed suspension bridge located north
of Istanbul and designed by engineers Jean-François Klein and Michel Virlogeux
has a total length of 2,164 metres and its towers are 322 metres high.
The length of its 1,408 metre main span exceeds the world record previously
held by the Russky Island Bridge in Vladivostok, Russia, which has a 1,104
metre central span and is also fitted with Freyssinet cables. With its
eight motorway lanes (four in each direction) and two railway tracks, the
Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge will facilitate traffic between Europe and Asia.
Freyssinet was responsible for studies, design, supply and installation
of the record-setting structure's cables and dampers. It also handled the
structure's prestressing and lifted the 17 central span segments.
Technical…
Cables technical studies got under way at Freyssinet at the end of 2012.
The teams in charge of the project had to contend with a number of challenges
related to the specific features of the structure. To support the weight
of the deck and traffic on the bridge, cables comprising between 75 and
151 strands with tensile strength of 1960 MPa were used. A new 151-strand
anchorage was designed, several innovative damper solutions were developed
and special deviator saddles were devised.
…and human challenges
At the worksite, Freyssinet's work was spread between early 2014 and mid-2016.
The project began in February 2014 with structure prestressing. The first
cable, with a length of 154 metres, was installed in April 2015. The last
cable was installed in February 2016. A total of 176 compact Freyssinet
cables with high tensile steel strands were installed. More than 300 people
worked around the clock, seven days a week, to complete these works.
Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge
Client: KGM (Republic of Turkey General Directorate of Highways)
Concessionaire: ICA
Design: Jean-François Klein – T-Ingeniérie & Michel Virlogeux
Construction: Hyundai Engineering & Construction / SK Engineering &
Construction