Northern Guangdong and the Pearl River Delta to Gain a "Golden Waterway"

Recently, with the official groundbreaking of the Tangtou Ship Lock, the Beijiang Waterway Capacity Expansion and Upgrading Extension Project (referred to as the Beijiang Extension Project) has entered a new phase of full-scale construction. A "golden waterway" connecting northern Guangdong and the Pearl River Delta is rapidly transforming from blueprint to reality. By 2035, the freight volume of the Beijiang Waterway is expected to reach 17 million tons, providing strong support for the revitalization of the northern Guangdong Soviet area and the integrated layout of the province's "One Center, Three Poles" comprehensive transportation hub.

The Beijiang Extension Project starts at Changlai Town in Wujiang District, Shaoguan City, Guangdong Province, and ends at the Baiwang Bridge on the Beijiang River, spanning a total length of 63 kilometers. With a total investment of approximately 6.27 billion yuan, it is being constructed to meet the standards of a Class III inland waterway, accommodating 1,000-ton inland vessels. The project includes the construction of four 1,000-ton ship locks at Yizhou, Tangtou, Qixingdun, and Chang'an, the demolition and reconstruction of seven bridges including the Beijiang Bridge, and the collision reinforcement of three bridges: Wuliting Bridge, Wujiang Bridge on the northern connection line of the Guangzhou-Lechang Expressway, and the Wujiang Grand Bridge of the Wuhan-Guangzhou High-Speed Railway. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2029.

Currently, the upstream channel improvement work at the Qixingdun Hub is progressing intensively, with dredging, reef clearing, and bank protection construction fully underway, and 40% of the total design volume completed so far. The Chang'an Ship Lock project has been fully launched, and the "three connections and one leveling" and construction preparations for the Qixingdun and Yizhou Ship Locks have been basically completed. In terms of bridge construction, the Changlai Bridge is the first bridge project to commence under the Beijiang Extension Project, with 56% of the total project volume completed. The prefabricated beam yard for the bridge construction has been fully established. The collision reinforcement work for the three bridges is advancing simultaneously.