It took quite the effort to reach the weekend, yet Han Yu had no chance to rest.

On Saturday, Director Tang and other leaders from the Port Supervision Bureau went to Sanhe for an inspection, and he needed to accompany them, along with newly returned from business, Deputy Mayor Shen, the about-to-assume-office Director Miao of the Port District Management Committee, as well as leaders from the Linghai Transportation Bureau and the Linghai Port Engineering Construction Command.

The future Linghai Port is not just a dock, but a port district stretching approximately three and a half kilometers from west at the Jianghai River to the east at the Hubin River.

The Lingda Car Ferry is located on the eastern side of Jianghai River, featuring a small harbor basin that can accommodate six ferries.

The Jianghai River is a transportation river, with locks built within it, allowing passage of inland vessels under 500 tons; opposite the river lies the sea vessel anchorage of Shuzhou Port, which enjoys a relatively good geographical position.

The city plans to capitalize on this geographical advantage to invest in expansion of the mouth of the Jianghai River where it joins the Yangtze River, transforming the area outside the sea lock into a harbor basin 1.6 kilometers in length and 200 meters in width, dedicated to berthing inland vessels under 1,000 tons and planning the two sides of the harbor basin to be the dock working areas.

In comparison to the deep-water docks adjacent to the mouth of Hubin River entering the river to the east, developing this area can be characterized by small investments and quick effects.

Director Tang and the newly appointed Deputy Director Xu made a round along the shore and returned to the command cabin of the vessel 001 to look at the planning map again.

Deputy Mayor Shen spoke with full expectations, "Director Tang, we will run all the necessary approvals in the usual way and ensure not to cause you any difficulties, but your attitude is crucial for their success. Secretary Ye has mentioned to me several times that we must ask for your help."

Linghai's determination is great, investing in building ports without using a penny from the state.

Secretary Ye is also very capable. Since taking office, he has been running from Binjiang to the province, then to Hanwu and even all the way to the Capital, using all the connections he could gather; there should not be a big problem with administrative approvals.

After weighing for a while, Director Tang smiled and said, "We are the Yangtze River Binjiang Port and Shipping Supervision Bureau, and since it's Binjiang's port and navigation supervision, we should fully support Binjiang's economic construction."

"Thank you for your support, Director Tang!"

"But after the harbor basin and the entire port district are built, the water traffic situation in this area will become more complex." Director Tang pointed at the planning map and laughed, asking, "Deputy Mayor Shen, in order to maintain better water traffic order, is it possible to set aside a few berths within the harbor basin to detain illegal vessels temporarily?"

Wanting berths without spending a penny!

Deputy Mayor Shen had a headache but realized they were not just the water police, they also managed shoreline usage, and if their work isn't supported, nothing can be accomplished. He could only laughingly ask, "Director Tang, how many berths do you need?"

The Yangtze River waterfront section is the busiest water area of the inland waterways, and in recent years, the banks have been vigorously developing ports, and the shoreline is truly inch-by-inch gold, just like the river surface itself.

There are many accident-prone and law-breaking vessels, with no place left to berth, and they cannot be allowed to run aground on the river beaches; otherwise, once the flood season arrives, they may drift downstream and cause water traffic safety accidents.

After some thought, Director Tang pointed at the planning map again and said, "Since it's temporary holding, there is no need for loading and unloading operations, so we won't take up your docks. We only need you to install seven or eight mooring buoys in the harbor basin and leave us seven or eight berths."

As the primary authorizing department on the river, they were not to be offended; Deputy Mayor Shen had no choice but to agree.

The vessel 001 continued to head east, towards the Hubin River Mouth.

Director Miao of the Management Committee, who was also accommodating the inspection, noticed that Deputy Director Xu from the Port Supervision Bureau, newly in office, was very young and was not very familiar with the inland waterway situation in Linghai. He began introducing them intimately.

"Director Tang, Director Xu, our Linghai's main rivers are all man-made, with an overall layout of three horizontals and seven verticals. The three horizontals, from north to south, are Binlu Canal, Bin Qi Canal, and Linghai River, respectively, all extending eastward to west.

The seven verticals, from west to east, include the Jianghai River we just saw, the Hubin River we're about to visit, and the Bailong River very familiar to comrade Han Yu, and also Weijiao River, Dahong River, Da Xin River, and Lingdian River, with these seven rivers all extending south to north."

Director Miao took a waterway map from the accompanying staff and smiled, adding, "The other small rivers within our territory are mostly oriented north to south, parallel and equidistant from these seven rivers, and these waterways are mostly interconnected."

Deputy Director Xu, thirty-one years old this year, subconsciously looked at the even younger Han Yu and exclaimed in surprise, "All man-made rivers?"

Director Miao said with emotion, "All excavated by hand, the oldest of which can be traced back to the Tang and Song dynasties, but the formation of the current pattern of three horizontals and seven verticals is mainly due to agricultural water conservancy construction over the years since the founding of the nation."

Han Yu couldn't help but think of his master and said solemnly, "Deputy Director Xu, you might find it hard to believe, but these waterways are navigable because nearly a million cadres and masses in Linghai dug them out one shovel at a time, one load at a time!

My family is a family of shipmen; my parents wandered the seas year-round and didn't need to do this work. However, my master started river labor at the age of fourteen. Every winter, he had to bring his own dry food and tools to 'move earth,' dredging and widening inland rivers, building river levees, and sea dikes."

Such a massive project, all relying on human labor.

Deputy Director Xu stayed silent for a moment, then nodded slightly.

Director Tang had not met Xu Sanye, but he had heard of him more than once. Thinking that Xu Sanye's early demise might have had something to do with his youthful strenuous labor, he found the topic a bit heavy and promptly switched gears with a laugh, asking, "Salted Fish, I saw you chatting and laughing with the folks from the Jianghai River Lock just now; are you familiar with them?"

"The director of the Jianghai River Lock, Director Yang, and I were classmates, and Deputy Director Chen used to work at the Bailong Port lock."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.