The Turkish Ministry of Transportation is planning to open a tender for a third bridge in Istanbul this year.

The government is planning to construct a 1,275m suspension bridge over the northern end of the strait close to the Black Sea.

The bridge is expected to link the Northern Marmara Highway with the Trans-European Motorway.

Construction is estimated to cost around $6bn and is scheduled to begin in 2011.

The 110m-wide bridge and 90km of the connecting highway will have eight lanes, while the rest of the network will have six lanes, according to hurriyetdailynews.com.