Beğendik Bridge ( tr, Beğendik Köprüsü), also known as Botan Bridge, is a road bridge crossing the Botan River at Beğendik in Siirt Province in southeastern Turkey. Inaugurated in 2020, it is Turkey's highest and longest main-span bridge.

History

The construction of the bridge was projected in the 1970s. The construction works for the bridge and the roads, which started in 1998, progressed slow in particular due to the actions of terrorist organizations in the region. The construction works started again in 2014. During the construction phase of the north structure, in mid December 2017, the long final segment of the beam broke off and fell into the gorge. About three months later, in March 2018, the remaining north structure imploded, causing the north pier and the deck to collapse and fall to the valley slope. The incidents delayed the completion date, which had been set for the end of 2018. The bridge was completed early November 2019, and was opened to road traffic on 11 July 2020. The bridge connects the

Van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across t ...

Tatvan Tatvan ( ) is a city on the western shore of Lake Van. It is the chief city of Tatvan District within Bitlis Province in eastern Turkey, and has about 96,000 inhabitants. The current Mayor is Mehmet Emin Geylani (Justice and Development Party (Turk ...

Bitlis Bitlis ( hy, Բաղեշ '; ku, Bidlîs; ota, بتليس) is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of Bitlis Province. The city is located at an elevation of 1,545 metres, 15 km from Lake Van, in the steep-sided valley of the Bitlis ...

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Siirt Siirt ( ar, سِعِرْد, Siʿird; hy, Սղերդ, S'gherd; syr, ܣܥܪܬ, Siirt; ku, Sêrt) is a city in southeastern Turkey and the seat of Siirt Province. The population of the city according to the 2009 census was 129,188. History Pr ...

Mardin Mardin ( ku, Mêrdîn; ar, ماردين; syr, ܡܪܕܝܢ, Merdīn; hy, Մարդին) is a city in southeastern Turkey. The capital of Mardin Province, it is known for the Artuqid architecture of its old city, and for its strategic location ...

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book '' Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939 ...

provincial road line .

Characteristics

Crossing the

Botan River The Botan River ( tr, Botan Çayı, ', or '; Kurdish: ; Armenian: ; Neo-Syriac: ; Ancient Greek ''Centrites''/''Kentrites'') is located in the Siirt Province of southeastern Turkey. The upstream of the Botan River is often called Çatak, which ...

south of Beğendik town in Pervari district of

Siirt Province Siirt Province, ( tr, , ku, Parêzgeha Sêrtê) is a province of Turkey, located in the southeast. The province borders Bitlis to the north, Batman to the west, Mardin to the southwest, Şırnak to the south, and Van to the east. It has an ar ...

Southeastern Anatolia The Southeastern Anatolia Region ( tr, Güneydoğu Anadolu Bölgesi) is a geographical region of Turkey. The most populous city in the region is Gaziantep. Other examples of big cities are Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakır, Mardin and Adıyaman. It i ...

, it is a suspension type concrete balanced cantilever bridge. The two-lane bridge is in total long and wide. It has the longest central span, at , of any balanced cantilever bridge in Turkey. It is also the country's highest bridge at above ground. The construction of Beğendik Bridge was part of a 1.510 billion investment project launched in 1998 to connect Küçüksu,

Bitlis Province Bitlis Province ( tr, , , ku, Parêzgeha Bidlîsê) is a province of eastern Turkey, located to the west of Lake Van. The province is considered part of Western Armenia by Armenians. The province is considered part of Turkish Kurdistan and has ...

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Hizan Hizan ( hy, Խիզան, translit=Khizan, ku, Xîzan) is a town in Bitlis Province, Turkey. It is the seat of Hizan District.hairpin turn A hairpin turn (also hairpin bend or hairpin corner) is a bend in a road with a very acute inner angle, making it necessary for an oncoming vehicle to turn about 180° to continue on the road. It is named for its resemblance to a bent metal ha ...

s winding in high elevation mountainous terrain. Through the Beğendik Bridge, cargo transport between

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

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Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

takes three hours instead of six hours before. The travel time between Van and Pervari decreased from about five hours to nearly two hours on a safety and comfortable route. The distance between Beğendik and Pervari shortened . A workforce of total 1,025, of which 255 were from Beğendik town, was employed during the construction. The bridge cost 100 million.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Begendik Bridge Road bridges in Turkey Bridges completed in 2020 2020 establishments in Turkey Buildings and structures in Siirt Province Cantilever bridges Transport in Siirt Province