ISTANBUL

The international stakeholders of the load engineering industry will come together at the LES-EXPO 2026 Europe-Asia-Africa Load Engineering Services Fair in Istanbul.

The fair, will be held in Istanbul on April 7-9, 2026, according to a statement from the Load Engineering Association (YMB) on Wednesday.

The load engineering services sector, which plays a critical role in Türkiye's industrial and infrastructure projects, has reached an economic size of $15 billion.

Freight engineering, the engineering discipline behind many megaprojects from bridges and ports to power plants and wind turbines, operates in Türkiye with more than 5,000 companies and 150,000 employees. Four Turkish companies rank among the top 100 in the global heavy lifting and transportation market, which exceeds $600 billion.

The load engineering sector, which combines the lifting, transportation, and assembly of heavy, long, high, and wide loads weighing thousands of tons with engineering disciplines, has been instrumental in Türkiye's largest projects, from Istanbul Airport to the 1915 Canakkale Bridge, and from the Eurasia Tunnel to the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant.

Load engineering companies, which have played key roles in projects such as Istanbul Airport, the 1915 Canakkale Bridge, the Eurasia Tunnel, and the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, will now take their place in the global spotlight at the LES-EXPO 2026 Europe-Asia-Africa Cargo Engineering Services Fair.

YMB President Ahmet Altunkum said that cargo engineering is the unsung hero of Türkiye's industrial and infrastructure development.

Altunkum emphasized that the success of Turkish companies, which safely lift sensitive loads weighing thousands of tons to heights of hundreds of meters with millimetric calculations, is the most concrete indicator of the country's engineering capability.

Fair to bring together hundreds of companies from 3 continents

Altunkum noted that they are proud that Türkiye, with its significant projects and accumulated experience, is among the leading countries in this field. He explained that they are now bringing this strength to the global stage with the LES-EXPO 2026 Europe-Asia-Africa Freight Engineering Services Fair.

"With the fair, which will be held in Istanbul for the first time in the world, we will bring together hundreds of companies from three continents and also have the opportunity to once again demonstrate Türkiye's rising competitiveness in the freight engineering sector on a global scale," he said.

Altunkum explained that the installation of a 155-ton component at a height of 318 meters during the construction of the 1915 Canakkale Bridge was recorded as "the world's heaviest lift to the highest point."

"The lifting operation performed on the 1915 Canakkale Bridge symbolized the global reach of our country's load engineering sector. Operations of this scale require not only strength but also advanced engineering intelligence and the discipline of millimetric calculations," he said.

Altunkum noted that Turkish companies in the field of load engineering services are experiencing significant development and are becoming preferred for large and sensitive projects worldwide.

He noted that the sector, which in previous years specialized in weight lifting and transportation activities, has evolved into a much higher-value-added engineering discipline that develops projects, performs detailed calculations in-house, completes preparations with simulations before going on-site, and utilizes the most advanced technology.

"Leading companies in our sector are now a hub for exporting solutions for complex assembly and transportation projects in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia. High-tonnage integrated lifting and transportation projects, previously undertaken only by global giants, can now be completed by Turkish companies with the same engineering level," Altunkum added.

Ibrahim Burkay, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bursa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BTSO) and KFA Fairs, emphasized that the cargo engineering sector is one of the most critical elements of mega projects both in Türkiye and the surrounding region.