Yangtze mouth's deepwater channel opens for trial operations

CHINA's largest water transport project, Yangtze River Mouth's deepwater channel's phase three rectification, has passed the state inspection and the channel has been opened for trial operations, reports Xinhua.

The channel linking East China Sea to Shanghai's Waigaoqiao Terminal is 12.5 metres deep and 92.2 kilometres long and widened to 350 400 metres across, eliminating bottlenecks between the Yangtze and the East China Sea.

When the channel is finally utilised, 50,000-tonne vessels can pass through in two directions, and 100,000-tonne bulk carrier or container ship can go by in one direction.

The bottleneck rectification project's phase 1 commenced in January 1998 when the mouth of the Yangtze was only six metres deep due to sediment build-up. Its phase two started in April 2002 to dredge to 8.5 to 10 metres. Then the phase three started in September 2006 to dredge from 10 to 12.5 metres.

The completion of the project will boost the construction to help shape Shanghai as an international shipping centre and maximise the Yangtze's capacity, said Vice Transport Minister Weng Mengyong.

(Source: www.schednet.com)