The Pinglu Canal fully operational on the morning of June 3rd, with the Madao hub achieving two "world's firsts"
According to a report by CCTV News,on the morning of June 3rd, the construction of the Pinglu Canal, a key project of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor in the west, will reach a significant milestone: the Madao and Qishi hubs, among the three major shipping hubs of the control project, will commence water filling. The Pinglu Canal will achieve full-line water supply and enter the water commissioning phase, with full navigation expected to commence in September this year.
"Statistics on the Pinglu Canal: The Ultimate Core of the Century Project"
The Pinglu Canal is the first major canal connecting rivers and seas since the founding of the People's Republic of China. Let's take a look at the impressive figures to see how many "world firsts" and "national bests" this project has achieved.
The Pinglu Canal, with a total length of 134.2 kilometers, starts at the mouth of Pingtang River in Hengzhou City, Nanning, passes through the Qin River, and directly leads to the Beibu Gulf for sea access. Simply put, it connects the main stream of the Xijiang River directly to the Beibu Gulf, making it more convenient for ships from the southwest region to sail to the sea.
The water level drop from the starting point to the end of the canal is 65 meters. To overcome this drop and ensure the passage of ships, three cascade hubs, namely Madao, Qishi, and Qingnian, were constructed, which are equivalent to installing "elevators on water" for ships to ascend or descend level by level.
Among them, the Madao hub has achieved two "world's firsts".
Firstly, it is a water-saving ship lock with the largest water level drop. The maximum water level difference between the upstream and downstream of the ship lock reaches 29.6 meters, which is almost as high as a 10-story building.
Secondly, it is the largest inland river provincial waterway lock, with an internal length of 300 meters and a width of 34 meters. The area of one lock chamber is equivalent to 1.5 standard football fields, and two locks can simultaneously accommodate 12 5,000-ton ships.
In addition, the Madao and Qishi hubs have set a "world record" for the fastest valve opening and closing speed of a water-saving ship lock. The working valves of these water conveyance galleries weigh 70 tons each, and "it takes only 1 minute to open the gate and 30 seconds to close it".
After looking at the "World's Best", let's move on to two "National Firsts".
The Pinglu Canal is the canal with the highest navigation grade in China, allowing direct passage for large ships of 5,000-ton class. Upon completion, goods from Guangxi and the southwest region will be able to reach the sea through this canal, saving over 560 kilometers compared to the previous route, resulting in time, effort, and cost savings.
Meanwhile, it is also the transportation project with the largest earthwork volume in China, requiring a total excavation of approximately 315 million cubic meters of earth and stone, which is almost three times that of the Three Gorges Project.
In order to save water, land, and effort, the builders have also achieved a world first. Both the Madao Junction and the Qishi Junction adopt a three-level water-saving pool stacked layout. The single-line ship lock is divided into high, medium, and low water-saving pools, arranged in a stepped manner. To support tens of thousands of tons of water, the Madao Junction uses 1,302 reinforced concrete pillars for support, while the Qishi Junction uses 1,152 reinforced concrete pillars for support.
From being the fastest and largest canal in the world, to the highest and largest canal in China, and then to the world's first canal of its kind, the Pinglu Canal has broken through the Xijiang River and the Beibu Gulf with a series of impressive records, injecting vigorous momentum into the new land-sea corridor in the west, and also writing a wonderful legend of China's infrastructure in the new era.
