Local people had been longing for it for thousands of years, and in the 1970s it was at last achieved: a bridge across the Bosphorus, the narrow natural channel that links the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmora and the Mediterranean, cuts off western Turkey from the rest of the country, and also splits Istanbul in half. But when the suspension bridge was finally inaugurated it was not only the populace of Istanbul that breathed a sigh of relief but also all the long-distance truckers; the ferries that used to carry them were no longer able to keep up with the volume of traffic.