Ansteel Supplies 23,000 Tons of Bridge Steel for the New Yalu River Bridge
On October 15, the new China-North Korea Yalu River Bridge officially opened to traffic. Ansteel Group supplied 23,000 tons of high-quality bridge steel for this national-level connectivity project, leveraging its manufacturing prowess—befitting its status as the "eldest son" of China' s steel industry—to support the construction of the bridge' s main structure. Connecting Dandong in Liaoning Province with Sinuiju in North Pyongan Province, North Korea, the new bridge is a four-lane, two-way highway bridge with a deck width of 28.5 meters. It features a dual-pylon, double-cable-plane cable-stayed design and is built to accommodate vessels of up to 3,000 tons. Prior to the opening of this new bridge, the existing China-North Korea Friendship Bridge—a combined road and rail bridge—restricted freight vehicles to a maximum weight of 20 tons and permitted only one-way traffic. The commissioning of the new bridge will substantially enhance the capacity for economic and trade exchanges, as well as the movement of people, between the two nations.
In terms of supply organization, Angang Steel established a dedicated task force as early as 2012 to refine production planning based on specific customer requirements. By adjusting product composition and implementing controlled rolling and cooling processes, the company ensured the consistent performance of its steel plates. Bridge steel demands a precise balance of strength, toughness, and weldability; for a dual-tower, cable-stayed bridge with a four-lane configuration, the uniformity of the steel plates is critical to both manufacturing precision and on-site construction efficiency. The timely delivery of this supply demonstrates Angang Steel' s comprehensive, end-to-end control capabilities—from R&D to mass production—in the field of medium-to-heavy steel plates for bridge construction.
Looking at the broader picture, Angang Steel' s technical expertise in the field of bridge steel is far from an isolated case. From the "pride-restoring steel"—the first bridge steel produced in the People's Republic of China—to its role as the primary supplier of nearly 170,000 tons of steel for the main structure of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, and its pioneering application of Q500qE bridge steel (the highest-strength grade in China) for the Hutong Yangtze River Bridge, Angang has developed a comprehensive portfolio. Its bridge steel offerings now span strength grades from 345 MPa to 500 MPa, encompassing products with features such as high toughness, excellent weldability, and atmospheric corrosion resistance. The successful delivery of 23,000 tons of steel for the New Yalu River Bridge serves as yet another practical validation of this product system within the context of cross-border connectivity. For the steel industry, the significance lies not merely in the tonnage of a single project, but in the fact that domestic suppliers like Angang are consistently integrating their capabilities—high strength, high toughness, and customized supply solutions—into the supply chains of major national-level infrastructure projects.
