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It is learned that the Sulian Waterway (Suqian Section) project has passed the handover acceptance and will be officially opened to traffic and put into operation at 00:00 on December 8th. This navigation will fill the gap of high-grade horizontal waterways in the Xuzhou-Suzhou-Lianyungang area and build a combined transportation network of rivers, lakes and seas in northern Jiangsu.
According to the “Navigation Notice on the Opening of the Suqian Section of the Suqian Waterway” issued by the Suqian Municipal Transportation Comprehensive Administrative Law Enforcement Detachment, the Suqian section of the waterway is 102.2 kilometers long, starting from the Suyu Lock at the intersection of the Suqian Waterway and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal (about 4 kilometers upstream of the Liulaojian Lock), and ending at the Heilong River Estuary at the junction of Shuyang and Guanyun County on the Gubo River waterway. The waterway is constructed in accordance with Class III standards, with a designed bottom width of 45 meters, a designed water depth of 3.2 meters, and a minimum bending radius of 480 meters. To ensure the safety of ship navigation, this waterway is equipped with four locks, namely Su Yu, Zao Lin, Ming Zhuang and Yuan Xing. Their effective dimensions are 230 meters in length (Su Yu, Zao Lin and Ming Zhuang locks) and 180 meters in length (Yuan Xing lock) respectively, and all are 23 meters wide. In addition, a total of 7 anchorages have been set up along the waterway, and various navigation AIDS and navigation signs have been deployed.
It is worth noting that in the initial stage of navigation, there is a section of about 0.7 kilometers downstream of Mingzhuang Lock that requires one-way navigation. Vessels need to enhance lookout and obey command. Meanwhile, during the initial navigation period, some waterway facilities may be in the commissioning stage. Vessels should pay attention to subsequent announcements. The Sulian Waterway is an important component of the northernmost “horizontal” in the “two verticals and five Horizontals” main framework of Jiangsu Province’s trunk waterway network, and it is a major infrastructure project determined by the national, provincial and municipal water transport development plans. The completion of this waterway aims to fill the gap of high-grade horizontal waterways in the Xuzhou-Suzhou-Lianyungang area and build a combined transportation network of rivers, lakes and seas in northern Jiangsu. Among them, the waterway within Suyu District is 33.406 kilometers long. Construction began in June 2020 and it is expected to be fully completed and ready for navigation by November 2025. The total investment in the Suyu section is approximately 3.4 billion yuan.
Chen Yong, deputy director of the Port and Shipping Development Center of Suyu District, introduced that after the Suzhou-Lianyungang waterway is opened to navigation, 2,000-ton vessels can directly reach Lianyungang. The cargo voyage is expected to be shortened from 2.5 days to 24 hours, and at the same time, the previous situation of having to detour 80 kilometers from Huai ‘an has been avoided. This is expected to reduce logistics costs and improve operational efficiency. Zhu Weimin, the chief engineer of the first section of the Sulian Waterway, said that the waterway is planned to start the renovation project of converting a third-class waterway to a second-class one on December 9th. After completion, the navigable capacity will be further enhanced. It is estimated that the transportation cost of bulk goods from road to water will be about one-third of that by road, and the overall logistics cost will decrease by an average of 12% to 15%. It is attractive to goods such as sand and gravel, grain, fertilizers, and auto parts. In the future, Suyu District also plans to build three ports, namely Lailong Port, Xinzhuang Port and Luji Port, with the aim of further achieving efficient connection between Suqian’s inland ports and coastal ports.
