The bridge was of great strategic importance during the first half of the 20th century and was repeatedly damaged and repaired as a result.

The Luokou Yellow River Railway Bridge was part of the German portion that ran from Tianjin to Hanzhuang in Shandong and had a length of 626 kilometres (389 mi).

The bridge was built by MAN (M.A.N.-Werk Gustavsburg bei Mainz), with the contract being signed on August 12, 1908 and the groundbreaking ceremony held on October 15 in the same year.

In November 1937, the bridge was severely damaged again by explosives when the Kuomintang governor Han Fuju tried to halt the advance of the Japanese troops after evacuating his own forces south of the Yellow River.

When the Japanese forces attacked the northern bridge head, more than 50 villagers that lived around Que Hill were killed (Chinese: 鹊山惨案; pinyin: Quèshān Cǎn'àn; lit.

[clarification needed] On 21 April 1991, the bridge was closed for passenger trains, because of the dangers posed by silt that had built up around it.