New Yalu River Bridge - Under Construction, June 2012

The New Yalu River Bridge ( zh, 新鸭绿江大桥), or Korea-China Amnok River Bridge ( ko, 조중압록강다리), is a

road bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

across the

Amnok River The Yalu River, known by Koreans as the Amrok River or Amnok River, is a river on the border between North Korea and China. Together with the Tumen River to its east, and a small portion of Paektu Mountain, the Yalu forms the China–North Ko ...

between

Dandong Dandong (), formerly known as Andong, is a coastal prefecture-level city in southeastern Liaoning province, in the northeastern region of People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese border city, facing Sinuiju, North Korea across the ...

Liaoning Province Liaoning () is a coastal provinces of China, province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and i ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, and

Sinuiju Sinŭiju (''Sinŭiju-si'', ; known before 1925 in English as Yeng Byen City) is a city in North Korea which faces Dandong, Liaoning, China across the international border of the Yalu River. It is the capital of North P'yŏngan province. Part of ...

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

. The

cable-stayed bridge A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern o ...

, which is long including the supporting roads, is intended as a replacement for the

Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge The Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge, or China–North Korea Friendship Bridge, is a bridge across the Yalu or Amnok River on the China–North Korea border. It connects the cities of Dandong in China and Sinuiju of North Korea, by railway and ro ...

. Construction began in October 2011 and is mostly complete and connected with Xingdan Road, but the project stalled between 2014 and 2019, with work unfinished on the North Korean side. By 2021, construction on the North Korean side has been mostly completed, with the bridge being expected to open soon.

Construction history

The New Yalu River Bridge was built as a replacement for the

Sino–Korean Friendship Bridge The Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge, or China–North Korea Friendship Bridge, is a bridge across the Yalu or Amnok River on the China–North Korea border. It connects the cities of Dandong in China and Sinuiju of North Korea, by railway and ro ...

, one of two other bridges in the area, to improve travel and trade between the two countries. The Sino–Korean Friendship Bridge, which opened in 1943, is only wide enough for a single rail track and a single

reversible lane A reversible lane (British English: tidal flow) is a lane in which traffic may travel in either direction, depending on certain conditions. Typically, it is meant to improve traffic flow during rush hours, by having overhead traffic lights and li ...

. It also cannot carry trucks over 20 tonnes. Plans to build the New Yalu River Bridge were approved by North Korea during a visit of Chinese

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Wen Jiabao Wen Jiabao (born 15 September 1942) is a retired Chinese politician who served as the Premier of the State Council from 2003 to 2013. In his capacity as head of government, Wen was regarded as the leading figure behind China's economic policy ...

to the country in 2010. The bridge would be part of a development project including free trade zones on North Korean islands in the Yalu river. Construction of the New Yalu River Bridge began in 2011, reportedly cost China US$350 million to complete, and has multiple lanes to carry traffic in both directions. It was originally planned to open in 2014, but due to delays on the North Korean side, the opening has been postponed indefinitely, as the bridge ended in a field outside of

, North Korea. In October 2017,

Yonhap Yonhap News Agency is a major South Korean news agency. It is based in Seoul, South Korea. Yonhap provides news articles, pictures and other information to newspapers, TV networks and other media in South Korea. History Yonhap (, , translit. ' ...

reported that North Korea has demanded that "Beijing to cover more of the costs of building the border bridge". In June 2019,

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

general secretary

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, s ...

pledged to pay for roads and customs posts on the North Korean side of the bridge, according to unnamed sources. In late September 2019, the construction for road links and customs posts on the North Korean side of the bridge began. By April 2020 the project was reportedly near completion. In mid-August 2020, the project was stopped again. In October 2020, the project works restarted again. According to sources cited by South Korean newspaper

Dong-a Ilbo The ''Dong-A Ilbo'' (, literally ''East Asia Daily'') is a newspaper of record in Korea since 1920 with a daily circulation of more than 1.2 million and opinion leaders as its main readers. ''The Dong-A Ilbo'' is the parent company of Dong-A ...

, the works were planned to be completed during the first half of 2020, but delayed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In October 2021, Yonhap reported that the bridge ramps on the Korean side were completed since, and that the bridge would be opened soon, as North Korea would restart border trade.

References

{{China – North Korea border crossings Bridges to nowhere International bridges Bridges in North Korea Bridges in Liaoning Road-rail bridges China–North Korea border crossings Buildings and structures in Dandong Bridges under construction AH1 Yalu River

Construction history

See also

References