Third Bosphorus bridge won
A joint venture of Astaldi with Turkish firm IC İçtaş beat competition from two other teams. It proposed plans to complete the project in the shortest period of time (10 years, two months and 20 days) while its only final rival, the Cengiz İnşaat-Kolin İnşaat-Limak-Makyol İnşaat-Kalyon İnşaat Consortium, submitted a timeframe of 14 years and nine months, according to reports.
The Salini-Gülermak consortium was omitted from the final round since its proposal recommended grounding the legs of bridge in the water as opposed to land, a project pre-requisite.
Four teams submitted bids for the initial tender on in April. Mapa İnşaat was subsequently eliminated because it did not achieve the required points for technical sufficiency.
The project is a part of the Northern Marmara Highway project. The bridge will measure 1.3km and link Asia and Europe in the north of Istanbul. It will have four lanes in each direction and is expected to reduce the traffic in the city with its 13 million inhabitants.
Work will begin at the end of the year and the bridge is expected to be finished in 36 months.
