The Guangdong Provincial Department of Transportation announced on July 24 that the Tangtou ship lock has officially broken ground, marking the start of full-scale construction for the Beijiang Waterway Capacity Expansion and Upgrading Extension Project (referred to as the "Beijiang Extension Project"). This is accelerating the development of a "golden water highway" connecting northern Guangdong with the Pearl River Delta.
The Beijiang Extension Project starts at Wujiang Lechang Changlai Town in Shaoguan City and ends at the Beijiang Baiwang Bridge. The total investment is approximately 6.27 billion yuan, covering a length of 63 kilometers. It will be built to Class III inland waterway standards, capable of handling 1,000-tonne river vessels. Key construction includes waterway regulation, four new 1,000-tonne ship locks at Yizhou, Tangtou, Qixingdun, and Chang'an, the demolition and rebuilding of seven bridges (including the Beijiang Bridge and the Wujiang Bridge combined with the Xihe Bridge), and the collision-proof reinforcement of three bridges: the Wuliting Bridge, the Wujiang Bridge on the Guangle Expressway Shaoguan North Connector, and the Wujiang Grand Bridge on the Wuhan-Guangzhou High-Speed Railway.
The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2029. The Beijiang Waterway will further strengthen the Greater Bay Area's role as a "bridgehead" radiating into the inland hinterland. It will also open up new space for cost reduction and efficiency gains in riverside industries and logistics, delivering green development benefits to more residents along the route. Once operational, the annual cargo volume is projected to reach 17 million tonnes by 2035. This will promote the shift of bulk cargo from road to water and from rail to water, optimize the multi-modal "water, road, rail, air" transportation structure, and provide strong support for the revitalization of the northern Guangdong Soviet area and the province's integrated "one center, three poles" transportation hub layout.
As a key water transport project under the Ministry of Transport's 14th Five-Year Plan, the Beijiang Extension Project adheres to an ecological waterway design philosophy. It will minimize bank slope excavation and natural disruption, using eco-friendly and green construction materials and techniques for dredging, bank protection, and dam structures. All four new 1,000-tonne ship locks will be equipped with fish passages to restore aquatic migration routes in the basin, striving for a harmonious coexistence between engineering construction and the natural environment. In the future, this project will significantly reduce regional comprehensive logistics energy consumption and carbon emissions.