RIVER PROBLEMS IN CHINA 



The question of training works near Hankow and Kiu- 

 kiang has been mooted. The chief difficulty' is the tendency 

 to form several channels instead of one, the depth in each 

 being too little. Some 20 miles of works would be required 

 at each place. 



The problem of Chinkiang is one which threatens the 

 extinction of the port. The loop which the river makes at 

 this point is advancing down stream cutting away the north 

 bank opposite Chinkiang and forming a shoal on the convex 

 side in front of the wharves. In twelve years the north bank 

 has been eroded to a depth of 4,000 feet and the shoal is 

 developing to correspond. Remedial measures, such as the 

 construction of long groynes projecting from the north bank, 

 are urgently necessary. 



Re the Whangpoo Regulation the several reports of the 



Board give full information. A full account of the Yangtse 



Estuary and the problems to be solved is contained in the 



Report on the Yangtse Estuary," issued by Mr. von 



Heidenstam in August, 1916. 



Probably the most important problem in connection 

 with the Yangtse is the question of the outer bar. The 

 Yangtse enters the sea through three large channels, the 

 North Branch, the North Channel and the South Channel. 

 Between the first two lies Tsungming Island, and between 

 the second two a chain of small islands and the Tungsha 

 banks. The latter will undoubtedly form a considerable 

 island in course of time. Shipping uses both the North and 

 South Channels but there is a bar in the former a few miles 

 west of Woosung over which there is only about 12 feet of 

 water at lowest low water and the passage is moreover 

 tortuous and continually changing. Hence the South Chan- 

 nel is the principal route. Between the Tungsha Flats and 

 the South Channel a bridge of hard mud rise in the bed of 

 the Yangtse. The saddle of this bridge is termed the Fairy 

 Flats and lies only some 16 feet below the lowest low water 

 level. The tides rise from 8 to 16 feet above this level so 

 that the depth at high water is from 24 to 32 feet. Thus 

 even with the greatest tidal depth the large vessels which 

 ply on the Atlantic could not enter the Yangtse. There is 

 no other place nearer than Tsingtao in the North and Hong- 

 kong in the South which can offer anchorage and inland 

 communication so that it is absolutely necessary for some- 

 thing to be done. 



If and when the Yangtse bar has been improved, large 

 vessels wish to discharge to Shanghai a further problem 

 arises. The Whangpoo will at very low water only admit 

 24 feet draught and at lowest high waters about 30 feet. 



