New Yalu River Bridge


The New Yalu River Bridge or Korea-China Amnokgang Bridge, is a road bridge across the Amnok River between Dandong, Liaoning Province, China, and Sinuiju, North Korea. The cable-stayed bridge, which is long including the supporting roads, is intended as a replacement for the Sino–Korean Friendship Bridge. Construction began in October 2011 and is mostly complete and connected with Xingdan Road, but the project stalled between 2014 and 2019. In April 2020, it was reported that the project would be completed in July. On the Chinese side, it is connected to roads, but a barrier gate next to a booth prevents access onto the bridge.

Construction history

The New Yalu River Bridge was built as a replacement for the Sino–Korean Friendship Bridge, 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. Construction of the New Yalu River Bridge began in 2011, reportedly cost China $350 million USD 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 currently ends in a field outside of Sinuiju, North Korea. There is very little activity connected with the bridge. In October 2017, North Korea has demanded that "Beijing to cover more of the costs of building the border bridge".
All the border crossing staff and the tax station are to be transferred to the new bridge when/if it opens.
In June 2019, Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping pledged to pay for roads and customs posts on the North Korean side of the bridge.
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.