Invest News DetailStar - The North Marmara Highway Project, which includes the building of a third bridge spanning the Istanbul Strait, is gathering pace as 18 of the 33 interested companies have acquired the formal tender specifications to submit their offerings. Half of the interested parties are foreign engineering and construction firms; they consist of four Japanese firms, two Russian firms, and one firm each from Spain, Austria, and Italy. The closing date for the tender held by the General Directorate of Highways under the Ministry of Transportation has been postponed until January 10 from an earlier date upon the request of the interested companies. The North Marmara Highway Project consists of a 414 km highway connecting Adapazari on the Asian side of the Marmara region to the Tekirdag district on the European side. The third bridge over the Istanbul Strait, complete with a railway track, is also part of the USD 5 billion project, for which it is envisaged that the Built-Operate-Transfer model will be used.