Communications and transit > Enquiry on national public works

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7- Yenho Lock and the Main Channel.—The salt transported from the Yenho to the
Grand Canal must at present be transhipped and carried overland for a distance of 4 kilo¬
metres between Hsipa and Huaiyin. It would be highly advantageous to build a lock
with a main channel north-west of Yangchung to connect the Yenho and the Grand
Canal; this will facilitate the transport of salt considerably. The conditions and design
of this lock will be exactly the same as those for the Huaiyin lock. The cost of the Yenho
lock is the same as for the Huaiyin lock—viz., 400,000 dollars. The earthworks for the main
channel will necessitate the excavation of 412,000 cubic metres at 0.17 dollar per cubic
metre and the construction of 200,000 cubic metres of dyke at 0.05 dollar per cubic
metre; the total cost of the earthworks is 80,000 dollars. Compensation for land,
houses, etc., will require about 20,000 dollars.
8. Liulauchien Lock and the Spillway .—It is of vital importance to exclude the
excessive quantities of the very silty Shantung water from the canal system. A lock at
Tiulauchien should be built with a spillway at the head of the Tiutang Ho, so that surplus
water will be diverted into the Idutang Ho and carried through Kwan Ho to the Yellow
Sea. The upper pool of the Liulauchien lock varies from 20.2 to 19 metres and the lower
pool varies correspondingly to the upper pool of the Huaiyin lock. Thus the maximum
lift of the Liulauchien lock is 9.2 metres. The design will be similar to that for the
Huaiyin lock and the cost will also be 400,000 dollars. The earthwork of the main
channels of both the lock and the spillway will necessitate the excavation of 200,000 cubic
metres at 0.17 dollar per cubic metre; and the construction with borrowed earth of
100,000 cubic metres of dyke at 0.20 dollar per cubic metre. The total cost of the
earthwork will be 64,000 dollars, and compensation for land, houses, etc., will require
36,000 dollars.
The spillway will be designed to carry a discharge of 1,000 cubic metres per second,
and will be composed of 10 openings with stone gates. The design of the structure has
just been started; the cost of the structure is roughly estimated to be 150,000 dollars.
9. Dredging of the Middle Grand Canal.—Below Liulauchien lock, the channel-depth
for a stretch of about 20 kilometres is not sufficient for navigation during the low-
water season. The earthwork is estimated to require 200,000 cubic metres of dredging at
0.40 dollar per cubic metre and 400,000 cubic metres of hand excavation at 0.17 dollar
per cubic metre. The total cost is approximately 150,000 dollars.
10. Preliminary Excavation of the Flood Channel at Kin Kou.—It is financially
difficult at present to construct the proposed main dyke along the flood channel from
San Ho to Liuchai. The present scheme is to excavate a deep and narrow channel in
the Kin Kou stretch to form a direct short route leading off part of the flood-water—and
also to utilise the existing course through the Kaopao Lakes for the rest of the flood-
water. Such a newly excavated channel might be widened and deepened gradually
by the scouring action of the flood flow. The earthwork of this new channel is estimated
to require 2,940,000 cubic metres of hand excavation at 0.17 dollar per cubic metre, and
the total cost is about 500,000 dollars.
(c) Benefits.
1. Navigation.—The Grand Canal in northern Kiangsu is the main navigation route
from south to north, but the channel is so shallow at present that, between Chinkiang
and Huaiyin, small steamships of one-metre draught, sometimes cannot sail. Above
Huaiyin, navigation is absolutely impossible while the east-west waterway between
North-Kiangsu and Anhwei is almost broken, and salt is now transported by Lunghia
railroad. An old western proverb says “ Communication is the mother of civilisation ”,