Page:The international development of China (IA developmentchina00suny).pdf/75

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DEVELOPMENT OF CHINA
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the northern shore opposite Chinkiang will have to be cut into in order to form a new channel of a mile or more in width. The part of the river in front of, and above and below Chinkiang has to be reclaimed. The new land thus reclaimed would form the water front of Chinkiang city, the value of which may be sufficient to defray the cost of the work and compensate for the land taken away on the northern shore, to form the new channel. So the works of this part will be at least a self-paying proposition.

The narrow between Pukow and Hsiakwan from pier to pier is barely six cables wide. The depth of the water in this narrow from the shallowest to the deepest is six to twenty-two fathoms. The land of the Hsiakwan side had occasionally sunk away on account of the too rapid current and the depth of the water. This indicates that this part is too narrow for the volume of the Yangtze water to pass. Therefore a wider passage must be provided for. In order to do so, the whole town of Hsiakwan must be sacrificed as the river must be widened right up to the foot of the Lion Hill, so as to provide a passage of a mile wide at this point. What the cost for the compensation of this valuable property of Hsiakwan will be will have to be submitted to the experts for a careful investigation before it can be determined. This will be the most costly part of the whole project for the regulating of the Yangtze. But undoubtedly some equally valuable property can be created along the riverside near by in

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