Jincheon Nongdari Bridge

Nongdari crosses the Segeumcheon stream at Jincheon in a run of low stone piers - about ninety-three metres of it and three and a half to six metres wide, built from flat river slabs stacked into supports with more slabs laid across as a deck, no mortar anywhere, the whole thing held by weight and fit. Its date is uncertain and tradition credits a General Lim of the Goryeo period, which would make it the oldest stone bridge in the country; what is documented is centuries of repair, because floods take sections out and the village has always rebuilt them, which means the bridge is old as a structure and continually renewed as material. It sits just above the water, so crossing it puts you in the middle of the stream at ankle height, and the stones are uneven enough that people go slowly. The stones of the piers are laid like fish scales, which is why floods rarely take the piers themselves, and between 2008 and 2018 the bridge was restored from twenty-four openings back to its original twenty-eight. There is a small park at the bank and an annual local festival tied to the bridge. It is free, takes twenty minutes to cross and look, and it is quiet.

The main sights

• The stacked slab piers - dry stone, no mortar.
• The crossing - about ninety-three metres just above the water.
• The stream shallows - the Segeumcheon on both sides.
• The bank park - a small green area at the end.

When to go

April to June and September to November. After heavy rain the stream rises over the deck and crossing is unsafe; check before going.

Things to know

It is a bridge in a field - twenty minutes, no facilities, little interpretation. Sections have been rebuilt many times. The stones are uneven and wet in places.

Nearby

Cheongju and Sangdangsanseong are south; Jincheon's bell museum is in the town.

Key facts