Did you know there's a bridge that connects Europe with Asia?
Yup, the world's longest suspension bridge, the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge, stretches across the length of the Dardanelles Strait, which is a passage of water connecting the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Marmara in Turkey.
The bridge connects Europe with Asia, removing the need for a ferry journey, which would take an hour and a half.
The bridge took nearly five years to build and was constructed by both Turkish and South Korean companies.
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It connects Gelibolu, in the European side of Turkey, with the town of Lapseki on the Asian region of the country.
It cost a whopping $2.7 billion but has reduced the journey time to an incredible six minutes.
“Turkey has overtaken Japan, which has the longest bridge in the world in terms of the midspan, and has taken the first place,” said President Erdogan during the inauguration ceremony.
Meanwhile, South Korean Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said: “The 1915 Canakkale Bridge will leave this history of collision and conflict behind and will be a bridge between East and West, starting a new era of peace and prosperity."
The bridge has plenty of symbolism to mark its importance. For example, its size of 2,023 meters is a nod to the year 2023, when Turkey celebrated the centenary of the founding of the Turkish Republic.
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Meanwhile, the height of the bridge’s towers is 318 meters, which symbolises the date, March 18, when Turkey commemorates the soldiers killed during Gallipoli.
If you've ever wondered why there are no bridges in other areas of the planet, experts have been weighing in.
For example, wouldn't it make sense to have a bridge over the 4,000-mile long Amazon river?
Unlike some small, lazy rivers where a few big stones are enough to allow a person to get across, the Amazon river is not one you can conquer without a bit of help.
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The width of the Amazon averages between two to six miles depending on the area, and can even reach up to 30 miles wide during rainier periods.
Speaking to Live Science, Walter Kaufmann, chair of Structural Engineering (Concrete Structures and Bridge Design) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, said the explanation is simple: "There is no sufficiently pressing need for a bridge across the Amazon."
Despite its length, many of the areas located near the river are sparsely populated, meaning there aren't many major roads for a bridge to connect to.
Topics: World News, Science, Travel