Spanning the Karakaya Dam Lake between the eastern provinces of Malatya and Elazığ, the Euphrates Railway Bridge has served as a critical rail connection between eastern and southeastern Türkiye and the country's central and western regions for nearly 40 years.
Constructed by the Turkish State Railways (TCDD), the bridge remains the longest railway bridge in Türkiye, stretching 2,030 meters (6,660 feet) in length and measuring 5 meters wide.
Construction began in 1981 at the narrowest point of the Karakaya Dam reservoir, where the bridge was designed to maintain uninterrupted rail transport after the creation of the dam lake. Following nearly five years of construction, the bridge entered service on June 16, 1986, with an inauguration ceremony attended by then-Prime Minister Turgut Özal.
The bridge links Fırat Train Station in Malatya's Battalgazi district with Kuşsarayı Train Station in Elazığ's Baskil district, providing an essential route for both freight and passenger trains traveling between eastern and southeastern Türkiye and Central Anatolia and the country's western provinces.
Around 700 freight and passenger trains cross the bridge each month, including the South Kurtalan Express and the Van Lake Express, making it one of the busiest railway crossings in the region.
The structure stands on 29 reinforced concrete piers rising approximately 80 meters above the water. Its steel framework was assembled using a traditional riveting technique rather than bolts, a method widely employed in large-scale steel bridge construction at the time.
The bridge was built using 11,327 metric tons of iron, 1,100 metric tons of steel, and 119,320 cubic meters of concrete. Its foundations are secured by 420 rock anchors, each measuring 70 centimeters in diameter.
Engineers also incorporated earthquake isolators beneath the bridge's supporting piers, an advanced seismic protection system for its time. The isolators are designed to help preserve the bridge's structural integrity and ensure uninterrupted railway operations in the event of an earthquake.
Nearly four decades after its inauguration, the bridge continues to play a vital role in Türkiye's railway network while also standing out as one of the country's most recognizable engineering landmarks.
