By 2011, the population of Istanbul had grown to approximately 14,000,000. As a result, overcrowding overcame both the Bosphorus bridge and the Sultan Mehmet bridge, and the two bridges were unable to absorb the overcrowding caused by the population of Istanbul, whose numbers are increasing annually and continuously. The Turkish government therefore decided to build a third suspension bridge in Istanbul to avoid severe overcrowding.
The construction of the bridge was approved by the Ministry of Transport in 2012 and the construction permit for the Achtash and Astaldi Company was granted. The foundation stone of Yawooz Sultan Sulayem Bridge was laid on 29 May 2013, in the presence of former Turkish President Abdullah Gul and former Prime Minister Ahmed Daoud Oglu, along with current Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The bridge was inaugurated on 27 August 2016 in the presence of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister Yildirim, former Turkish President Abdullah Gul and former Prime Minister Ahmed Daoud Oklu.
The bridge was named in honor of the Ottoman Sultan Selim I, who extended the Ottoman Empire to the Middle East and North Africa. He received the title of Caliph after entering Egypt in the 16th century in 1517 and was called Ayawaz, meaning strict Arabic.
The length of the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge is 2164 meters long and 59 meters wide and 320 meters above sea level. This is the longest suspension bridge supported by railway tracks in the world. The cost of construction is about US $ 3 billion.
Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge or Sultan Selim I Bridge is the third suspension bridge in Istanbul connecting the two continents of Asia and Europe in Istanbul. It is located near the entrance of the Black Sea from the Bosporus Strait, connecting the Garis region of the European section and the Puerazque region of Pecos in the Asian section of Istanbul. Istanbul is the only city with three huge suspension bridges.