Hunan Upgrades the "One River, One Lake, Four Waterways" Navigation Network

In early autumn, the vast land of Hunan is bustling with activity, with cranes towering and machinery roaring over the four rivers of Xiang, Zi, Yuan, and Li. Key waterway projects are seizing the golden period for construction, and the backbone waterway network of Hunan's "One River, One Lake, Four Rivers" has pressed the "fast-forward button." As the main force in the province's water transport construction, the Hunan Waterway Construction Investment Group has completed an investment of 1.784 billion yuan in the first eight months for eight provincial key waterway projects, accounting for 55.15% of the annual investment plan, with project construction progressing in an orderly manner.

The third phase of the Xiangjiang Yongzhou to Hengyang Class III Waterway Construction Project is "leading the way." Once navigable, it will effectively open up the connection channel between the Yangtze River system and the Pearl River system, facilitating the southbound water transport channel for the central region to the sea. Currently, four unit projects, including the main structure of the Xiaoxiang Ship Lock and the main structure of the Wuxi Second Line Ship Lock, have been completed and accepted. The main structure of the ship lock management area has been completed simultaneously, and the construction of upstream and downstream guide walls, mooring dolphins, and energy dissipation piers has been fully completed, while downstream anchorage construction is underway.

The construction site of the Xiangjiang Changsha to Chenglingji Class I Waterway Project is bustling with activity. Inside the foundation pit of the Xiangjiang Changsha Comprehensive Hub Third Line Ship Lock Project, 12 tower cranes stand tall in an orderly manner. Their long arms rotate in perfect coordination, safely navigating through the overlapping high-altitude work zones to steadily deliver heavy materials such as steel bars and templates to various work surfaces.

The Xiangjiang Changsha Comprehensive Hub Third Line Ship Lock is Hunan Province's first 3,000-ton-class Class I waterway project. The ship lock is being constructed to a 3,000-ton-class standard, with the excavation of earth and rock from the main project foundation pit and the pile anchor support basically completed. Dredging construction for the Changsha section of the waterway has completed approximately 2.625 million cubic meters, while the reef blasting construction for the Yueyang section has been completed, and dredging construction has reached 480,000 cubic meters. Once the waterway is completed, 3,000-ton-class ships will be able to travel directly to Wuhan and Shanghai year-round, breaking through the bottleneck of high-grade waterway access at the tail end of the Xiangjiang River.

The Yuan River Hongjiang to Chenxi Waterway Construction Project involves the improvement of the 180-kilometer waterway from Hongjiang City to Chenxi County on the Yuan River, with the Hongjiang Hub Ship Lock being upgraded to a 1,000-ton-class standard. Currently, the construction of the new Hongjiang Ship Lock, the renovation of the old ship lock, the Wushui River Estuary to Dafu Tan Hub Waterway Improvement Project, the Dafu Tan Hub Guide Channel Renovation Project, and the Tongwan Waterway Station Building have all been completed. As a critical node for achieving the full connection of the 500-ton-class waterway on the Hunan section of the Yuan River, the upstream and downstream cofferdams, bridge steel trestles, and foundation steel cofferdam construction for the Taoyuan Hub Second Line Ship Lock Project on the Yuan River have all been completed.

In addition, the Zishui Yiyang to Lulintan Class II Waterway Construction Project has commenced and is being vigorously advanced. Preparations for the construction of three major waterway projects—the Baisha to Ganxi Port Class III Waterway on the Lizi Waterway, the Taohuajiang Hydropower Hub on the Zishui River, and the Changde to Nianyukou Class II Waterway on the Yuan River—are progressing in an orderly manner.