The Historic Gediz Bridge in Izmir's Menemen district was reopened during a ceremony after the completion of reinforcement, restoration and lighting works.
Speaking at the ceremony, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said Anatolia was an open-air museum bearing traces of thousands of years of civilization. Uraloğlu said they were working not only on transport infrastructure but also to preserve cultural heritage.
Number of restored historic bridges reaches 532
Uraloğlu said work was being carried out to restore historic structures in accordance with their original designs and pass them on to future generations. He said structures including the Sangarios, Hıdırlık, Malabadi, Kızılin, Taşköprü, Osmancık Koyunbaba and Diyarbakır Ongözlü bridges had been restored, adding that the number of completed historic bridge restorations had risen to 532.
Minister Uraloğlu said restoration work was continuing on 48 historic bridges. He added that the Historic Gediz Bridge had also been reopened as part of these efforts.
Reinforcement and lighting work carried out on bridge
The Historic Gediz Bridge is 166.5 meters long and 6.7 meters wide, and consists of five spans. Reinforcement and repair work was carried out on the bridge's arch, deck, tie rods, wind girders and piers, which were built with an overhead reinforced-concrete arch system.
Following a route change, the bridge, which serves the villages of Yanıkköy, Doğa and Belen, was made functional again through work by the General Directorate of Highways. Care was taken to preserve the structure's original character during the work.
Transport investments in Izmir
Uraloğlu said approximately 349 billion Turkish liras had been invested in Izmir's transport and communications infrastructure over the past 24 years. He announced that the length of divided roads in the city had increased from 431 kilometers to 1,000 kilometers, while the length of roads paved with bituminous hot-mix asphalt had risen from 366 kilometers to 1,017 kilometers.
Recalling that the Izmir-Istanbul Highway had reduced travel time from 8.5 hours to 3.5 hours, Uraloğlu said travel time would fall to 3.5 hours once the Izmir-Ankara High-Speed Train Project, which is under construction in stages, was completed.
Speeches at the ceremony
Izmir Governor Süleyman Elban said significant progress had been made in road investments over the past 24 years. Elban said Turkey's divided-road network had exceeded 30,000 kilometers and that, alongside transport projects, structures of historical and cultural value were also being restored.
Ahmet Gülşen, director general of highways, said the repair and reinforcement work on the bridge had been carried out while preserving the structure's original character. Menemen Mayor Aydın Pehlivan said the bridge, which opened to service in 1935, was important to the district's history.
AK Party Izmir deputies Mehmet Muharrem Kasapoğlu, Yaşar Kırkpınar and Mahmut Atilla Kaya, as well as MHP Deputy Secretary-General and Izmir deputy Tamer Osmanağaoğlu, also spoke at the ceremony. The Historic Gediz Bridge was reopened after a prayer was recited and a ribbon was cut.
