Bridges and tunnels across the Yangtze River

The river bisects China proper from west to east, and every major north–south bound highway and railway must cross the Yangtze.

Today, the river has four sectional names in (in Chinese) : (1) Tuotuo, (2) Tongtian, (3) Jinsha and (4) Chang Jiang.

In the first half of the 20th century, rail passengers from Beijing to Guangzhou and Shanghai had to disembark, respectively, at Hanyang and Pukou, and cross the river by steam ferry before resuming journeys by train.

[2][3] Gongsun Shu built the pontoon across a narrow part of the river between Jingmen and Yichang in (modern Hubei Province) to block the Han Emperor's navy from sailing upriver into Sichuan.

[3] In 570, the Northern Zhou general Chen Teng built a crude suspension bridge across the Xiling Gorge using thick rope and reeds to carry food and provisions for his troops on the south bank.

The bridge was cut apart by boats lined with sharp knives sent down river by the Chen general Zhang Shaoda.

[2][4] In 974, during the Song Emperor Zhao Kuangyin's conquest of the Southern Tang, a pontoon over 1,000 meters long linked together by bamboo chains was erected in just three days at Caishiji (Ma'anshan, Anhui Province) and enabled the Song Army to advance swiftly across the river and capture Nanjing, the Southern Tang capital.

[3] The Taipings tied together small boats into twos and threes and steered these preassembled pieces simultaneously into the river, and used iron anchors to set the pontoons instead of chains.

[3] Pontoon bridges have not been a feasible long-term solution to cross river transport because they block boat traffic on the Yangtze, a major conduit for travelers and cargo between the coast and the Chinese interior.

Dating back to 3rd century, militaries of antiquity have stretched iron chains across the Yangtze in the Three Gorges to block invading armies.

The Shenchuan Iron Bridge, a simple suspension bridge, stood at what is today Tacun of Weixi Lisu Autonomous County in the Dêqên Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of northwestern Yunnan Province, and was probably built to help the Tibetan military advance against the Kingdom of Nanzhao during its invasions between 682 and 704.

[6] The Tibetans stationed a frontier command office in the town called the Shenchuan Iron Bridge jiedushi.

The dual-use road-rail bridge was a major infrastructural project in the early years of the People's Republic and was completed with Soviet assistance.

[11] In the upper reaches of the Yangtze above Yibin, the Jinsha (Gold Sands), Tongtian, and Tuotuo sections of the river are narrower and bridges are more numerous.

The Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge was originally designed to carry trucks weighing up to 30 t (33 short tons).