DL E&C "World's Longest Suspension Bridge, ?anakkale Bridge Deck Installation Begins"

Manufacturing Tabletops with Domestic Materials and Applying Special Equipment for Temporary Construction

[Asia Economy Reporter Onyu Lim] DL E&C (formerly Daelim Industrial) and SK Ecoplant announced on the 27th that they have begun the deck installation work for the ?anakkale Bridge in Turkey, which is being constructed as the longest suspension bridge in the world. It has been about 3 years and 3 months since the groundbreaking. The deck is the structure where roads or sidewalks for cars and pedestrians are installed. The suspension bridge deck is installed by hanging vertically from the main cables that connect the main towers.

The deck of the ?anakkale Bridge is completed by connecting a total of 87 blocks made of steel. Each deck block varies in size and weighs between 300 tons and up to 900 tons. The first block installed at the center of the main cable measures 48m in length, 45m in width, and 3.5m in height. The steel plates used for deck fabrication were supplied by POSCO. A total of 50,000 tons of steel plates, equivalent to the weight of seven Eiffel Towers, were transported to Turkey and fabricated locally. Once all the deck installations are completed, the exterior of the world’s longest suspension bridge, spanning a total length of 3.6 km, will be virtually complete.

SK Ecoplant and DL E&C applied equipment called an automatic lifting gantry for the deck installation. This equipment is installed on the main cable and moves along the cable like a train using the cable as a rail. A total of eight units were installed along the ?anakkale Bridge cables. This lifting gantry can be installed or dismantled at any position on the main cable without other cranes or separate equipment, significantly reducing the construction period compared to conventional gantries. The work proceeds by lifting blocks placed on barges from the sea surface up to 90 meters high and hanging them on the main cable.

This process is considered a precise operation requiring complex structural engineering analysis because the center of gravity and the shape of the suspension bridge change continuously as blocks are installed on the main cable. Technical teams from DL E&C and SK Ecoplant are directing this specialized work. After completing the deck installation by September this year, they plan to proceed with finishing works such as deck welding and road paving.

The ?anakkale project is a public-private partnership BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) project that constructs and operates the world’s longest 3.6 km suspension bridge and an 85 km connecting road, then transfers it to the Turkish government. It connects the Lapseki and Gelibolu regions of ?anakkale Province, Turkey, which face each other across the ?anakkale Strait. The total project cost is approximately 3.5 trillion KRW. It is a developer project that participates not only in design, procurement, and construction but also as the project operator, guaranteeing operational revenue after completion. The total project period is 16 years and 2 months, including construction and operation phases.