A new modern bridge set to facilitate greater overland trade volumes between China and North Korea took another step this week towards finally opening with paving beginning on the DPRK connecting highway, NK Pro analysis of a ground-level photo and satellite imagery shows.

The satellite imagery also reveals that preparations for construction on what appears to be a customs complex near the foot of the bridge have also expanded in recent weeks, while the remainder of a small neighborhood along the highway was finally demolished.

New homes appear to have been built nearby around the same time, possibly for the residents of the now-demolished neighborhood.

The first signs that construction on the highway in the DPRK border city of Sinuiju was set to begin came last September when NK Pro found a row of the homes were demolished in the likely pathway of a connecting road.

Construction on the highway itself then began at the end of last year but had yet to be paved, until this week.

The paving or preparation for imminent paving appears to have reached about 800 meters beyond the terminus of the New Yalu River Bridge in an April 27-dated medium-resolution satellite image provided by Planet Labs.

A high-resolution image (below) taken on April 26 showed vehicles grouped at the bridge terminus and the paving preparations moving away towards the east.

An image taken in recent days and shared with NK Pro by Jongchol Park (top of the page) shows asphalt paving at the end of the bridge while other trucks and around 20 workers make preparations ahead.

Planet Labs imagery reveals that paving will likely continue in this direction, as it has not begun at the other end of the new 4.5-km-long highway connecting to the existing DPRK roads.

In addition to the new paving work, it appears the remaining 40+ small homes in the neighborhood situated along the highway were demolished in recent weeks while new buildings appeared simultaneously nearby.

They began to be demolished in the last week of March, Planet imagery shows, while at least 57 new structures appeared just to the north in a neighborhood surrounding what is known as the Kyohwaso (reeducation camp) No. 3.

It is likely that given the similar number of structures as well as the timing and vicinity, the structures are homes built for the residents of those demolished.

Other ground-clearing work has also continued in recent weeks adjacent to the old neighborhood in a spot that is likely to become North Korea’s border customs complex.

NK Pro was first to report on the preparations last month, but the area has grown significantly since then, according to the latest imagery. Actual construction on the facilities has still yet to begin, however.

Construction work to connect what North Korea calls the Korea-China Amnokgang Bridge (조중압록강다리) followed an Asahi Shimbun report that Chinese President Xi Jinping promised Kim Jong Un assistance to restart the project during his visit to Pyongyang last June.

The South Korea-based Daily NK reported in December that, according to a Chinese company in charge of the construction, the bridge is likely to open this year with the completion of the connecting highway and customs facilities.