November 27, 2013
A renovated drawbridge in Busan Metropolitan City in South Korea was officially reopened. (Busan is second only to Seoul as South Korea’s most populous city.) This bridge, which spans Busan Bay, connects Yeong Island (formally designated as Yeongdo District) with Jung District on the mainland portion of the city.
Yeongdo Bridge was originally completed and opened in 1934, when Korea was part of the Empire of Japan. This structure was the first drawbridge to be built in Busan. It had the added distinction of being the first drawbridge with a single moveable section in all of Korea. During the Korean War, Yeongdo Bridge achieved a pivotal and even poignant claim to fame when it became a major destination for refugees seeking to reunite with lost family and friends.
The moveable section of Yeongdo Bridge stopped functioning altogether in 1966. By the early 2000s, the overall condition of the bridge was deemed dangerous enough that there were plans under discussion to tear it down altogether. Ultimately, however, Yeongdo Bridge was declared a historical monument in 2006 and efforts were initiated to restore rather than eliminate this structure.
Thousands of people showed up for the reopening ceremony for Yeongdo Bridge in 2013. Those in attendance included Hur Nam-shik, mayor of Busan. “As the bridge deck was raised, firefighting boats passed beneath, firing colorful water cannons to celebrate the dedication,” reported Chun Sung-woo in that day’s edition of the Korea Herald. “It took about four minutes for the leaf to be raised and two more minutes for it to lower back into place. Crowds of people then entered the bridge from either side and met around the middle.” He further noted, “Some 70,000 citizens packed the roads near the bridge to watch the bascule swing upward.”
For more information on Yeongdo Bridge, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeongdo_Bridge
A video of the reopening of this bridge can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7VJZ3FkM8w
Transportation History 