Bridging the Han River in 1900

The railroad bridge over the Han River in 1900 / Robert Neff Collection

By Robert Neff

At the start of the 20th century, the Hangang Railroad Bridge was the first great engineering project to be completed in Korea, and it may have also been one of the most important. Prior to the construction of this bridge, the only way for the average person to cross the river was to walk across the ice during the winter or, when the river was free of ice, to take a boat or small ferry. Both had their risks.

In 1897, the construction of the Seoul-Chemulpo Railroad began. Its construction was fairly simple for the most part, but spanning the river was the most daunting part of the enterprise.

The idea of conquering the river with a bridge instilled a degree of pride in the foreign community. In December 1897, the editor of The Independent, a local paper that published in Hangeul and English, visited the railroad's offices and seemed relatively pleased: "Judging from the plan, it is going to be a noble-looking structure and will probably be the longest steel bridge in this part of the world. The bridge itself will be six hundred and fifty-five feet [about 200 meters] long but, including the approaches at both ends, it will be over a quarter of a mile [about 400 meters] in length."

In closing, the editor wrote, "What a joyful anticipation it is [sic] going down to Chemulpo on a train."

His anticipation lasted much longer than he expected. The company's bridge expert, William H. Holmes, arrived in Korea in early January 1898, and by the end of the month, according to The Independent, he was "now working on the site where the bridge will be erected" and that "the company will use steel and stone alone in building the trestle work at the approaches of the bridge, instead of timber as was reported."

The railroad bridges spanning the river in March 2021 / Robert Neff Collection

There were to be other changes as well. Two weeks later, the newspaper reported:

"It has been decided to do away with all the trestle-work on the Seoul-Chemulpo Railway. By putting in iron bridges. The trestle-work at either extremity of the Han Bridge will also be done away with, and two additional spans of the bridge have been ordered."

He added that this would will increase the actual length of the bridge from 1,650 feet to 2,150 feet, or 503 meters to 655 meters.

The bridge's spans were constructed in the United States and shipped to Korea ― arriving in July 1898 aboard a steamship called the Yarrowdale. Even with these new spans there were problems, especially in the summer.

The Han River was described as "ordinarily a shallow stream" but during the summer months it frequently overflowed its banks, inundating the surrounding countryside and washing away construction.

A steam engine crosses over the frozen Han River, circa 1920-1940. / Robert Neff Collection

In October 1899, Horace N. Allen, the American minister to Korea, wrote to his sons that the officials of the Seoul-Chemulpo Railroad "can't hope to have the bridge completed for a year or two because whenever they get the false work well arranged around the piers, a flood comes along and washes it all away."

After the Seoul-Chemulpo Railroad was sold by the American firm to a Japanese firm, Allen's correspondences were filled with negativity, contradictions and deception. As Patrick O'Donnell notes, even in an official report to the State Department, Allen avoided using the word "sold" and instead used "transferred" to describe how the Japanese firm came to control the railroad.

In a report to the State Department in March 1900, Allen claimed, "no one understands Korea better than the Japanese," due to their extensive surveys and maps. However, later in his report, he noted, "the plans of the American contractor [Holmes] for this bridge having been disregarded, two of the piers built by the Japanese have subsided out of line." As a result, the Japanese officials offered a bonus of 100,000 yen to any contractor who could complete the bridge by June.

Under the bridges, circa 1920 / Robert Neff Collection

However, his letter to his sons, from the same period, loses all of its diplomatic tone:

"The Japanese … have offered a contractor a bonus of Yen 100,000 if he will complete the Seoul-Chemulpo bridge by June. It can't be done. Two of the piers have sunk out of line and must be removed, and the plans of the Americans pursued, which the 'smarty' Japanese would not do. They think they know more than anyone and can't learn."

He ended his rant by complaining that people are still forced to disembark on the south side of the river, board a small ferry, and then resume their journey, after crossing the river's sandbank. He somewhat smugly predicted, "It will be bad in the rainy season."

Under the bridges in 2021 / Robert Neff Collection

Allen wasn't the only one with biased opinions. A railway journal from the same year claimed that when construction of the bridge began, many superstitious Koreans "regarded the structure as a monster much to be feared," but fortunately, had not "yet taken the direction of suggesting its destruction." The journal implied the actual destruction that had happened earlier to Seoul's streetcars, when mobs destroyed a couple of streetcars out of the superstitious fear that they were responsible for the drought plaguing the country. It is true that superstitious fear may have played some part in the attacks upon the streetcars, but the primary catalyst seems to have been an unfortunate accident in which a child was struck and killed by one of the streetcars.

This negative portrayal of Koreans is somewhat softened when, in 1905, Holmes provides some interesting insight as to why he changed his plans. According to O'Donnell:

"Holmes and his associates were astonished to learn that Korea had kept accurate records on the Han River related to high-water and low watermarks, tide elevations, ice flows and other general information that dated back five hundred and nine years. The person who kept the records was known as 'the owner of the rivers.' When he was first introduced to the Americans [as] the 'owner of the rivers,' he was somewhat apologetic to the Americans for the period of time encompassed by the available records, explaining that records kept before 1392 had been destroyed by a fire in that year."

Overlooking the bridge in 1900 / Robert Neff Collection

Apparently the data convinced Holmes to adjust his initial plans. And it wasn't only the meticulous records that impressed him ― he found the method by which the Korean laborers leveled the roadbeds as crude and slow, but very accurate.

As for Allen, throughout the spring, he remained somewhat skeptical as to the progress of the bridge. It seems almost as if he was hoping it would fail. In a letter to his sons dated June 10, 1900, he wrote:

"The Japanese are working night and day to get the bridge finished before the rainy season and it looks now as though they would succeed if the rains keep off for three or four weeks."

Overlooking the bridge during the Korean War / Robert Neff Collection

He begrudgingly acknowledged that once the bridge was completed, it would be "a great convenience." The railroad officials generously offered to "place a car at [his] disposal without cost" so that he and his wife could take their baggage from Seoul to Chemulpo, but Allen seems to have declined the favor. "I would rather pay as I do not wish to [be] under any obligations to them. I pay enough in railway fares, however."

The bridge was completed on June 27 (much to the relief of the Japanese officials and contractor) and, after a trial run was held on July 5, began operating a few days later. Allen, the man who claimed it could not be done, does not appear to have been on that first train across the river. Perhaps he was too busy eating crow.

If you want to know more about this early railroad in Korea, I strongly recommend Patrick R. O'Donnell's heavily picture-filled book, "Seoul & Chemulpo Railroad: The First Railroad of Korea."

The view of the bridges on a cold clear day at the beginning of 2021 / Robert Neff Collection

Robert Neff has authored and co-authored several books including, Letters from Joseon, Korea Through Western Eyes and Brief Encounters.