The Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge (simplified Chinese: 武汉长江大桥; traditional Chinese: 武漢長江大橋; pinyin: Wǔhàn Chángjiāng Dàqiáo), commonly known as First Wuhan Yangtze Bridge, is a double-deck road and rail bridge across the Yangtze River in Wuhan, in Central China. The bridge, completed in 1957, is the first crossing built over the mid- and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and remains the oldest of the Yangtze River bridges in Wuhan.
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The Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, including approaches, is 5,511 feet (1,680m) long, and accommodates a double-track railway on the lower deck and a four-lane roadway on the upper deck.
The Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge was built from 1955 to 1957 as a double-decker road and rail bridge across the Yangtze River between between Snake Hill (Sheshan) in Wuchang and Turtle Hill (Guishan) in Hanyang. The completion of the bridge connected the Pinghan Railway to the north and Hanyue Railwayto the south of the Yangtze and created the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway. Prior to the bridge’s completion, rail cars crossed the river by train ferry, taking an entire day. Design and construction were undertaken by the Engineering Bureau of the First Yangtze River Bridge, established by the Ministry of Railway in April 1953. On 15 April, 1954, the 203rd conference of State Council passed Resolutions on Building the First Yangtze River Bridge. Then on January 15, 1955, a technical conference on the routes of the bridge was held in Hankou, and the route from Tortoise Hill to Snake Hill was determined to be the best choice. Construction on the bridge proper began on October 25, 1955, and the whole project was completed two years later to the day, and ten days after the opening-to-traffic ceremony which was held on October 15, 1957. The bridge was designed and built with the assistance of advisers from the Soviet Union and represents one of the key projects of Sino-Soviet cooperation.