Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Karaismailoğlu stated that the latest technological opportunities are used in transportation investments, “Look, our transportation infrastructures are not affected in such a severe earthquake in the world. Especially in the Istanbul earthquake, which is considered in Marmara, these big infrastructure projects of ours will not be harmed thanks to the technology we use, and they will operate 24 hours a day.”
Karaismailoğlu said:
“Projects such as Istanbul Airport, Northern Marmara, Marmaray, Osmangazi Bridge and Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge will continue to work as soon as there is an earthquake. In the event of a disaster, be it the Northern Marmara, the Eurasia Tunnel, or the Marmaray, these will all be emergency transportation routes. In the Eurasia Tunnel, for example, we use seismic isolators in the two parts of the tunnel where the ground is empty and soft. In other words, there are insulators here that will meet the load due to the earthquake, these are the insulators that reduce the effect on the tunnel. We also used seismic isolators in Marmaray. We also use seismic isolators in our highway projects. In a possible situation in Istanbul, the Northern Marmara road will be an emergency transportation route in particular.”
Karaismailoğlu, who said that it was understood how necessary Istanbul Airport was, noted that in a possible case, one of the two airports (Istanbul and Ataturk airports) could be operated.