User:Jirangmoon/sandbox/Jincheon Nongdari

Jincheon Nongdari is natural stone-made bridge placed over Segeumcheon (the stream of Segeum, currently called Baekgokcheon ) flowing in front of Gulti village, Gugok-ri, Munbaek-myeon, Jincheon-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do. It is called Nonggyo, Suwolgyo or Jinedari. It was designated as Chungcheongbuk-do Tangible Cultural Property No.28 on December 21, 1976. It was included in the 100 beautiful roads in Korea, which was selected by the Ministry of Construction and Transportation. It is close to 100 meters in length and is estimated that it was built in the early Goryeo Dynasty. The Nongdari with 1,000 years of history could be the oldest stone-made bridge as well as the longest stone-made bridge in South Korea.

Etymology
Jincheon Nongdari is the Korean translation of Jincheon Nonggyo (진천농교; 鎭川籠橋 ) written in Chinese characters, meaning a Nong bridge in Jincheon. Nongdari was made of red natural stones not being cut or trimmed, whiich were piled up like fish scales.the name was derived from the fact that there were stones that moved when you steppeded on them and turn when you puled them.

Structure
Nongdari is 93.6m in length, 3.6m in width, 1.2m in thickness, and 80cm in width of the pier. It was made by stacking small stones like fish scales and then elongating it in the shape of a centipede. The roots of the stones were interlocked and stacked, being piled with only stones without replenishment of lime water.

Nongdari consisted of a total of 28 nodes by applying the 28 Mansions. During the Japanese colonial period, 3 cells were lost and only 25 were left. On August 15, 2008, Chungcheongbuk-do and Jincheon-gun restored all 28 cells.

History
Nongdari has theories to support its creation but no historical sources that can give a glimpse of the situation at the time of its creation. Sangsanji (상산지 ; 商山誌, 1617) and Chosunhwanyeoseungram (조선환여승람 ; 朝鮮寰輿勝覽, 1910~1937) record that it was built as early as Goryeo Dynasty about 1,000 years ago by General Im Yeon. Another story is that it was built by General Kim Seo-hyun, the father of General Kim Yu-sin in Three Kingdoms, to head towards the Nangbi fortress (낭비성; 娘臂城) for military purpose.