The structure was built between 1981-86 by the Turkish State Railways, on the Fevzipaşa-Kurtalan railway, as a replacement for an older bridge, opened in 1935, which was flooded with the construction of the Karakaya Dam.[1][2] The bridge was the longest bridge in Turkey from 1986 to 2007, when it was surpassed by the Bornova Viaduct in Izmir; and the longest railway bridge until 2008, when surpassed by the Sakarya Viaduct. Currently, it is the 7th longest bridge in the country and 2nd longest railway bridge.