GSP Neptun, the largest heavy lift crane barge in the Black Sea, provided heavy lift services for the construction of the new Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge over the Bosporus Strait, the company said in its press release.
GSP’s crane operated under a contract with Hyundai Engineering & Steel Industries Co. Ltd. The crane completed the second 4.5 metres and 450 ton bridge floor slab hauling operation on January 9, on the Asian side of the strait.
GSP Neptun started operations at the third Bosporus Bridge with the unloading operation of the first floor slab on the 25th of December 2013. The first of the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge steel slabs has been placed on the 26th of December 2014 in a ceremony held on the European side with the participation of Lutfi Elvan, Minister of Transportation, Maritime and Communication.
GSP Vega, AHTS, performed the crane barge transportation from Constanta to Istanbul and back.
The 59-meter-wide bridge – the widest in the world – will be the third one to connect the Asian and European sides of Istanbul. ’Yavuz’ Sultan Selim Bridge is part of the Odayeri-Paşaköy section of the north Marmara motorway project. The new bridge will have eight road lanes and two rail tracks. The 3rd Bosporus Bridge will also have the highest lateral towers in the world, reaching 322 meters in height.