As the first principle in our program was remuneration, all our plans must strictly follow this principle. To create Pootung Point, therefore, as a civic center and to build a new Bund farther on along the left bank of the new canal in order to increase the value of the new land which would result from this scheme must be kept in mind. Only by so doing would the construction of Shanghai as a deep harbor be worth while. And only by creating some new and valuable property in this fore-doomed port could Shanghai be saved from the competition of our Projected Port. After all, the most important factor for the salvation of Shanghai is the solution of the silt question of the Yangtze Estuaries. Now let us see what effect and bearing the regulating of the Yangtze Channel and Embankments have upon the question, and this we are going to deal with in the next part.
PART II
The Regulating of the Yangtze River
The regulating of the Yangtze River may be divided as follows:
- a. From the deep-water line of the sea to Whangpoo Junction.
- b. From Whangpoo Junction to Kiangyin.
- c. From Kiangyin to Wuhu.
- d. From Wuhu to Tungliu.
- e. From Tungliu to Wusueh.
- f. From Wusueh to Hankow.
a. Regulating of the Estuary from Deep-water Line Up to the Junction of Whangpoo
It is a natural law that the obstruction to navigation in all rivers is begun at their mouths, therefore the improvement of any river for navigation must start from the estuary. The Yangtze River is no exception to this rule, therefore to regulate the Yangtze, we must begin by dealing with its estuaries.
The Yangtze has three estuaries, namely: The North Branch lying between the left bank and the Island of Tsungming, the North Channel lying between the Tsungming Island and the Tungsha Banks and the South Channel lying between the Tungsha Banks and the right bank. Henceforth for the sake of convenience I shall call them the North, Middle, and South Channels.
The silting up of a river's mouth is due to the loss of velocity in its current when the water gets into the wide opening at its junction with the sea and causes the silt to deposit there. The remedy is to maintain the velocity of the current by narrowing the mouth of the river so that it equals that of the upper part. In this way the silt is suspended in the water moving on into the deep sea. The narrowing process may be accomplished by walls or training jetties. And thus the silt may be carried by the water into the deepest part of the open sea and before it settles down upon the bottom a returning tide will carry it from the approach into the shallow parts on both sides of the river's mouth. The mouth of a river can be kept clear from deposit of silt by the action and reaction of the ebb and flow tide. The conservancy of an estuary of any river is accomplished by utilizing these natural forces.
In order to regulate the estuary of the Yangtze we have to study the three channels which form its mouth and to find out which of these channels is to be selected as the regulated entrance into the sea. In Mr. Von Heidenstam's proposal for the improvement of the approach of Shanghai Harbor, he recommends two alternatives, viz., either to block up the North and Middle Channels and to leave the South Channel only for the mouth of the Yangtze, or to train the South Channel only and leave the other two alone. For the present, he thinks, perhaps for the sake of economy, the latter scheme would be enough. But the training of the South Channel alone as the approach to Shanghai would leave it in a state of perpetual anxiety as has been apprehended by Mr. Von Heidenstam and other experts, for the main volume of the water of the Yangtze may be diverted into either of the other two channels and leave the Southern one to be silted up at any time. Therefore to make the approach of Shanghai once for all safe and permanent, it is necessary to block up two of the three channels, leaving only one as an approach to the port. This is also the only feasible way of regulating the estuary of the Yangtze.
In our scheme of regulating the Yangtze Estuary I should recommend using the North Channel only and to block the other two. Because the North Channel is the shortest way to the deep-sea line and by using it as the only mouth of the Yangtze, we have on both sides of it more shallow banks to be reclaimed by its silt. Thus the expenditure would be less and the results greater. But this would leave Shanghai in the lurch. Therefore in a coöperative scheme like this I would apply the theory of killing two birds with one stone by using the Middle Channel, since it would suit both of our purposes. The reason for this is because the regulating of the Yangtze Estuary and the securing of a Shanghai approach have different purposes, hence we must consider them differently.