Broken Bridge
Saturday, 13th August 2005 by Alex Turnbull
This bridge near Istanbul, Turkey looks likes it been smashed to pieces! Presumably it's under construction, and they're floating the pieces out into place. Either that or it's some sort of freaky swing-bridge... 😉
Thanks to Max and Lauri Kangas.
About the author
Alex has decided that his title will be Senior Vice President of Stuff.
It looks like there are cars on the ramps leading to the bridge. So I don’t think it is underconstruction.
It’s not clear if those cars are on their way to the bridge. Most of them seem to be larger vehicles, so they could be trucks for constructing the bridge or parked buses. This is indeed weird. I mean, if this is some sort of swing-bridge, what about the right/eastern part? It doesn’t seem to be connected, so how to move it? And if the bridge is under construction, where are all the vehicles and stuff? There is absolutely nothing, and not even boats or ships carrying the parts of the bridge are visible.
Oh, one more thing: View Placemark Is this an airplane, maybe a floatplane? Strange area anyway…
The bridge is obviously floating; seems to be an opened ponton bridge. Probably it was opened permanently when the neighbouring bridge had been build. The eastern part removed seems to be disconnected (not only tilt aside) to leave a bigger passway.
There are trucks parked on the road, the road connection is regular, but you can see bushes growing on the eastern side.
They maybe do not remove the bridge to keep a spare one?
OK, I can’t resist: It’s Istanbul, not Constantinople.
Why they changed it I can’t say People just liked it better that way
I think it shows how Turks love Europe… They changed the name of an European capitole to give it a name which is not indo-european… and this guys are pretending to join Europe… no way!
Hi i’m from turkey and this is my living area… 1-bridge is out of service but it’s not broken…. 2-“for Al Cohole” there is not a -Strange area-…. there is museum 😀
and tankyou Jack….
It’s Istanbul, not Constantinople!!!
I live in Istanbul and I guess I have the answers to your questions.
First of all, the “broken bridge” is the old Galata Bridge. It was built in 1912 as a ponton draw bridge. It was a nice place to hang around because beneath the bridge there were bars, cafes and antique stores. Unfortunately, it burnt down in 1992 and after that it’s replaced by this one. There were a couple of projects suggested for the remains of the original bridge but up to now the local authorities couldn’t decide on one of them. So, it lies all alone at the place you see…
Secondly, the plane that Al Cohole pointed is located in the garden of a science museum. It’s a Douglas DC-3, that was made in 1935. You can find the details about the museum and this plane in here.
Firstly, I live in Ä°stanbul. Secondly, thank you Jack, Evriana and Prof955. All of the things are true which wrote by Evriana and Prof955. !!!It is TURKEY, IT WILL JOIN EUROPE ONE DAY and we know that IT WILL JOIN EUROPE ONE DAY!!!
AND IT IS Ä°STANBUL, NOT CONSTANTLÄ°NOPLE OR ESTANBUL. Ä°T Ä°S Ä°STANBUL!!!!!!!!!
The bridge was in use for a while in its second place here as Evriana Jones says but then the municipality decided to leave it open to let the water come in and out to let the water stay clean. The famous Golden Horn (famous estuary in Istanbul) was deeply polluted until recently. Municipality applied many projects to clean the water. Cleansing filters, to change the water by exchanging the water to Marmara Sea etc. Finally Golden Horn is no more polluted that much. And some people says it was Rahmi Koc’s (one of the richest in Turkey and former head executive of Koc group) suggestion to leave it open for the water since Rahmi Koc Industrial Museum is in shores of Golden Horn too. When the bridge was in use for many years as Galata Bridge it was being opened this way to let the ships come in and out. The bridge is actually floating a floating bridge.
I am reading a book by Geert Mak about the Galata Bridge. Actually most of it is about the Old bridge, but fascinating to read. Unfortunately for most of you, the book is written in Dutch. Reason for my interest: Geert is an excellent writer and I am planning a visit to Istanbul.
If you visit Google maps and input Istanbul, you ca find the Old Bridge lying upstream in the Golden Horn and the new bridge at the place where the Old Bridge used to be. The Old Bridge burned in 1992.
it’s the old galata bridge which was pulled there during the construction of the new bridge. the pic really looks broken..
This is the old Galata Bridge dated back to the early idustrial age close to the end of the Ottoman empire. It was build by the a Dutch corporation and it was an critical moment of the earlier modernization of the City. The bridge were burned in 1992 and then few section of the pontoon structure moved further in the Halic gulf in the area of Fener close to Balat. Nowadays the bridge is a temporary fire station where pleasant and friendly fire men spending some of their extra time by fishing from the iron and concrete beast. Recently I had visited the location and i was fascinated from the full spectrum of emotions which the cold and corrugarated beast expressed. I saw through his damaged body a time portal of the City’s history way before its Westernazation (look the new bridge where trendy and sometimes kitch coffe shops and restaurants exist with silly names like ‘Olympus’). Yes its not Costantinople but it is Istanbul with various fragments looking for an potential interelation instead of their costant juxtaposed desaturation.