Gavurdere Viaduct
The Gavurdere Viaduct (before 1928 - when it was still written in Arabic in Turkey - Giaurdere Viaduct ), also known as the Varda Viaduct , is a single-track railway bridge in Turkey in the Adana Province . The Turkish name is Varda Köprüsü or Alman Köprüsü ("German Viaduct") or Koca Köprü ("large viaduct").
description
The bridge lies on the Konya – Adana railway line, which is part of the railway line known as the Baghdad Railway . It is located between kilometers 307.106 and 307.278 immediately southwest of the Haçıkırı train station in the Karaisalı district . Adana Central Station is the next major train station and is 63 km to the south. With a length of only 172 m, the bridge has an extraordinary height of 98 m. It is the highest railway bridge in Turkey. The building is built as an arch bridge made of natural stone with eleven arches. The three large main openings have a width of 30 m each, they are equipped with small savings arches. Both side parts consist of four arched bridges each with widths of 10 m or, on the other side, three times 12 m and one 6 m. The bridge extends in a north-south direction and lies in a curve with a 1,200 m radius.
Construction phase
The Baghdad Railway was built from 1903 under German management from Konya in the central highlands of Turkey to Baghdad in Iraq. The crossing of the Taurus Mountains with a peak height of 1,478 m was one of the great technical challenges. 37 tunnels and numerous bridges had to be built over a length of 20 km, with the Giaurdere Viaduct being the best-known engineering structure. The construction project was financed under the leadership of Deutsche Bank . The railway line was built by the German construction company Philipp Holzmann , and other German companies such as Siemens , Friedrich Krupp , Borsig etc. were involved in the scope of delivery for the Baghdad Railway.
The viaduct was designed by the German engineer Winkler, employee of the construction company Philipp Holzmann, and completed by Nicholas Mavrogordato after his death. The bridge crosses the deeply cut valley of the river Gavurdere (literally "brook of the infidels "), hence the name of the viaduct. The construction of the bridge began in 1905, the main building measures were completed in 1907. The railway line on this section was commissioned in 1916. The official opening took place on February 18, 1917 by the Turkish Minister of War Enver Pascha .
Notoriety
The bridge is often depicted for its boldness and elegance. Descriptions of the Baghdad Railway are often illustrated with a picture of the Giaurdere Viaduct. In the opening part of the James Bond film “ Skyfall ”, the viaduct served as the setting for the climax of a dramatic chase scene. This part of the film is also a key scene for the entire film plot. The James Bond film made the railway bridge famous around the world.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Adana's old bridge to host James Bond . In: Hürriyet Daily News , December 22, 2011. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
- ↑ James Bond Adana'ya geliyor (Turkish) . In: NTV MSNBC , December 20, 2012. Retrieved December 28, 2012.
- ↑ Tor, Mustafa: Belemedik-Çakıt Vadisi-Hacıkırı-Vardaha Köprüsü Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Anadolu . August 7. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
Coordinates: 37 ° 14 ′ 36.6 ″ N , 34 ° 58 ′ 36.4 ″ E