To improve the Upper Yangtze from Hankow to Yochow, the work is much similar to that of the lower part. The channel should be regulated by rudimental dikes. The concave embankments in sharp bends should be protected by stone or concrete; obstacles in midstream should be removed. The great loop, called the Farmer Bend, above Kinkow, should be cut through at the neck of Paichow, and the sharp point of Hanchin Kwang should be cut away to make the curve of the river more gentle.
The tortuous part of the Yangtze, north of the Tungting Lake, between Kinho Kow and Skipper Point, should be blocked up altogether and a new channel made through Tungting Lake, returning to the Yangtze by the Yochow Channel. This avoids the crooked passage and shortens the river course considerably. From Skipper Point to Ichang the dilatations should be restricted by dikes of stone or piling, and some sharp points of the shores should be cut away to make the curves more gentle.
The Yangtze River above Ichang enters the Gorges which run about a hundred miles up to the Szechuen depression, known as the Red Basin. This part of the river from Ichang right along to its source is confined by rocky banks, very narrow and deep, having an average depth of six fathoms and at some particular points even thirty fathoms. Many rapids and obstructions occur along its course.
To improve the Upper Yangtze, the rapids should be dammed up to form locks to enable crafts to ascend the river as well as to generate water power. Obstructions should be blasted and boulders removed. Thus, a ten-foot channel right along from Hankow to Chungking could be obtained so that through inland water transportation could be established from Chungking to Peking in the north and to Canton in the south, as well as to all navigable points in China Proper all the year round. In this way, transportation expenses to the richest emporium in West China could be reduced hundredfold. The benefit to the people will be enormous and the encouragement to commerce will indeed be great.
PART V
The Establishment of Large Cement Works
Steel and cement are the basis of modern construction, and the most important factors of the material civilization of the present age. In the various projects of our development scheme, the demand for steel and cement will be so enormous that all manufacturing countries combined will not be able to supply the needs. Therefore, in our first program, I have proposed to establish large steel works in the rich iron and coal fields in the provinces of Shansi and Chili; so in this second program I propose to establish large cement works along the shores of the Yangtze River. The Yangtze Valley is exceptionally rich in materials for cement,—limestone and coal lying side by side at the water edge along the navigable channel from Chinkiang upward. Thus, local supplies could be created for local needs.
At present, there is one cement works at Shihuiyau near Hoangshikang at the upper reach. It is situated between a deep water wharf and a limestone hill. The limestone is so near by that it can be cut and shoveled into the kilns immediately. Between Hankow and Kiukiang there are many places possessing the same advantage. Below Kiukiang, there are also many such advantageous positions as Matang, Wushiki and many others between Kiukiang and Anking. Between Anking and Nanking there are exceptionally good locations for putting up cement works such as Tatung, Tikang, and Tsaishisze, all these places being provided abundantly with limestone and coal and iron, lying side by side.
With the huge harbor works, city building, and embankment construction, the market for cement will be so great that a capital of one to two hundred million dollars should be invested for the supply. This work should be started gradually in accord with the acceleration of the other works of the general development so that one project will further the other, and over-production and waste of capital individually in any of the parts of the general scheme will be guarded against. This will help make each of them a profitable business by itself.