The Hangang Bridge, literally ''Han River bridge'', crosses the Han River in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

. It connects the districts of

Yongsan-gu Yongsan District (, ) is one of the 25 districts of Seoul, South Korea. Yongsan has a population of 231,685 (2020) and has a geographic area of , and is divided into 19 '' dong'' (administrative neighborhoods). Yongsan is located in central Seoul ...

to the north and

Dongjak-gu Dongjak District (Dongjak-gu) is one of the 25 '' gu'' that make up the city of Seoul, South Korea. Its name was derived from the Dongjaegi Naruteo Ferry, on the Han River which borders the district to the north. It was the 17th ''gu'' create ...

to the south, and crosses over the artificial island of

Nodeulseom Nodeulseom an artificial island in the River Han in Seoul, South Korea. The uninhabited island is located to the east of the larger island of Yeouido. Hangang Bridge passes directly over the island. On September 28, 2019, the island was re-op ...

. The bridge carries eight lanes of traffic. The Korea Meteorological Administration considers the Han to be frozen over when the 100-meter section of water between the second and fourth posts of the southern span freezes.

History

Pontoon bridge A pontoon bridge (or ponton bridge), also known as a floating bridge, uses floats or shallow-draft boats to support a continuous deck for pedestrian and vehicle travel. The buoyancy of the supports limits the maximum load that they can carry. ...

s were moored at the site of the modern bridge, but the Han had no fixed crossings until the nearby Hangang Railway Bridge was completed in 1900. Plans for a road bridge did not materialize until 1917, when the original footbridge (''indogyo'') opened. It was damaged by a flood in July 1925. In October 1935 a second span was constructed, and tram tracks added. Shortly after the outbreak of the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, South Korean troops bombed the bridge in an attempt to slow invading forces, as it was the river's solitary road crossing. The Hangang Bridge bombing killed between 500 and 1,000 people, mostly civilian refugees, who had not been informed of the plans to destroy the bridge. The bridge was not fully restored until 1954. In 1982 additional lanes were added, and it was renamed Hangang Bridge.

References

Bridges in Seoul Bridges completed in 1917 {{SouthKorea-bridge-struct-stub