The Hangang Bridge () crosses the Han River in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, South Korea. It connects the districts of

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

to the north and Dongjak to the south, and crosses over the artificial island of Nodeulseom. 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, is a bridge that uses float (nautical), floats or shallow-draft (hull), draft boats to support a continuous deck for pedestrian and vehicle travel. The buoyancy of the support ...

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 The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, 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.

Gallery

References

External links

Bridges in Seoul Bridges completed in 1917 Historic buildings and structures in Seoul Bridges in Korea under Japanese rule Keijō {{SouthKorea-bridge-struct-stub