World's longest suspension bridge connects Europe to Asia and cuts travel time by 93%

The world's longest suspension bridge stretches two continents and takes a matter of minutes to cross.

The soul-crushing daily commute is a factor of life many of us are all-too-familiar with, and according to INRIX, the average US driver spends 51 hours stuck behind the wheel every year, losing two days and wasting an eye-watering sum in fuel.

It's no wonder many of us look to escape the rat race with a vacation or two, though a road trip while on holiday could be a little off putting if you feel like you waste too much of your life sat on the highway in your car.

But what if I told you there's an incredible bridge that connects Europe with Asia and cuts journey times by a whopping 93 percent?

The 1915 Çanakkale Bridge in Turkey (Burak Akay/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

That's what Turkish officials had in mind when they decided to construct the world's longest suspension bridge, the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge, which stretches from northwestern Turkey across the Dardanelles Strait, a passage of water connecting the Aegean Sea and the Sea or Marmara.

The bridge connects Gelibolu, in the European side of Turkey, with the town of Lapseki found in the Asian region in the country.

This means it connects two continents with tarmac and abandons the need for the 90-minute ferry to get to the other side.

Now, backpackers, travellers and commuters can reach the other side in just six minutes.

Despite its '1915' reference, construction on the bridge started in Mach 2017 and was open to the public on March 2022.

Not a sight you want to see (Getty stock Images)

Turkish officials used the historically significant date in the name of the bridge to honor an important Ottoman victory in the first world war which sparked a chain of events that ultimately led to the declaration of the Republic of Turkey in 1923.

And that's not the only nod to Turkey's history in the bridge as its 2,023 meter stretch pays homage to the year 2023, the year the country celebrated the centenary of the founding of the Turkish Republic.

Even the height of the bridge has some meaning behind it, with 318 meters symbolizing the date of March 18 when Turkey commemorates the soldiers killed during Gallipoli.

Anyway, as mentioned already, the suspension bridge spans 2,023 meters which means it surpasses Japan's famous Akashi Kaikyo Bridge built in 1998 by 32 meters.

The Turkish bridge wasn't exactly cheap to build either, with an eye-watering price of $2.7 billion.

Japan's Akashi Kaikyo Bridge has been dropped down to the second largest suspension bridge in the world (Getty Images)

“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.

South Korean Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum added: “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."

If you've ever wondered why there are no bridges in other key points on Earth, experts have been weighing in.

For example, why don't we have a bridge over the 4,000-mile long Amazon river?

Well, that's not really a possibility, even though it would seem like an obvious decision to make.

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. As a result, there aren't any major roads for a bridge to connect to.