Urmia Lake Bridge
Encyclopedia
The Urmia Lake Bridge is a bridge in northern Iran
. It crosses Lake Urmia
and connects East Azerbaijan and West Azerbaijan. The highway was completed in November of 2008. The bridge is the largest and longest bridge project in Iran.
The bridge reduced the driving distance between Tabriz
and Urmia
by 135 kilometres (83.9 mi). This bridge has an important role in the development of the cultural exchanges and tourism and trade between the two provinces of East Azerbaijan and West Azerbaijan and saves time and fuel consumption and reduce road accidents.
, though a 15 km (9.3 mi) causeway with an unbridged gap was already completed. The project was revived in the early 2000s, and was completed in November 2008 with the opening of a 1.5 km (0.93205910497471 mi) bridge across the remaining gap. However, the high saline environment is already heavily rusting the steel on the bridge despite anti-corrosion treatment. Experts have warned that the construction of the bridge, together with a series of ecological factors, will eventually lead to the drying up of Urmia Lake, turning it into a salt marsh which will directly affect the climate of the region.
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. It crosses Lake Urmia
Lake Urmia
Lake Urmia , ancient name: Lake Matiene) is a salt lake in northwestern Iran, near Iran's border with Turkey. The lake is between the Iranian provinces of East Azerbaijan and West Azerbaijan, west of the southern portion of the similarly shaped Caspian Sea...
and connects East Azerbaijan and West Azerbaijan. The highway was completed in November of 2008. The bridge is the largest and longest bridge project in Iran.
The bridge reduced the driving distance between Tabriz
Tabriz
Tabriz is the fourth largest city and one of the historical capitals of Iran and the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. Situated at an altitude of 1,350 meters at the junction of the Quri River and Aji River, it was the second largest city in Iran until the late 1960s, one of its former...
and Urmia
Urmia
- Demographics :According to official census of 2006, the population of Urmia is about 871,204.- Language :The population of Urmia is mainly Azerbaijani people, with Kurdish, Assyrian Christian, and Armenian minorities...
by 135 kilometres (83.9 mi). This bridge has an important role in the development of the cultural exchanges and tourism and trade between the two provinces of East Azerbaijan and West Azerbaijan and saves time and fuel consumption and reduce road accidents.
History
A project to build a highway across the lake was initiated in the 1970s but was abandoned after the Iranian Revolution of 1979Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution refers to events involving the overthrow of Iran's monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and its replacement with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the...
, though a 15 km (9.3 mi) causeway with an unbridged gap was already completed. The project was revived in the early 2000s, and was completed in November 2008 with the opening of a 1.5 km (0.93205910497471 mi) bridge across the remaining gap. However, the high saline environment is already heavily rusting the steel on the bridge despite anti-corrosion treatment. Experts have warned that the construction of the bridge, together with a series of ecological factors, will eventually lead to the drying up of Urmia Lake, turning it into a salt marsh which will directly affect the climate of the region.