REGULATION OF DEEP NAVIGATION WATERWAY IN THE YANGTZE RIVER ESTUARY

摘要

In order to establish Shanghai as an international economic, financial and trade centre, it is essential to make Shanghai an international navigation centre. With the rapid development of container transport on a global scale, such an international navigation centre should possess hub port with container terminal capable of accommodating large or even super-sized container vessels entering the port. Port Shanghai, located inside the mouth of the Yangtze River, is the only suitable site to build such a container terminal. The only hindrance is the huge shoal forming at the mouth of the estuary, the natural water depth of the channels over the shoal is only 6m, vessels of over 10000 tonnage have to save the tide or unload part of the cargo before passing the channels. An Improvement scheme has been worked out to increase the depth of entrance channel successively to 8.5m, 10.0m and eventually to 12.5m, so that container ships of the 3rd and 4th generations could enter the port all day long and those of the 5th and 6th generations, as well as cargo vessels of 100,000 tonnage, by saving the tide. The improvement scheme consists of regulation works, i.e. training jetties, spur dikes and diversion bulwark, as shown in the figure, in combination with dredging operations. Construction works were carried out since January 1998. Up to June 2000, as the first stage, the water depth of the navigation channel has already attained 8.5m. The entire project could be completed in 2004, with targeted water depth of 12.5m.