Fourth Inland Waterways Project

closed

The main objective of Fourth Inland Waterways Project is to improve access for poor regions of southern China by upgrading navigation conditions on the region's major east-west river and other waterways feeding traffic into the Pearl River Delta region. A secondary objective is to harness water flow in two of these rivers to generate environmentally clean electricity to help meet growing energy demand in the provinces of Guangdong Autonomous Region and Guangxi. There are two components, each with multi-subcomponents. The first component for Guangxi constructs a dam, power station, and shiplock; builds access roads; provides bank protection with reservoirs and a dam; installs turbines, lock gates, and other equipment; supports channel improvement; supports institutional strengthening, consultants services, and training; and provides finance for resettlement and land acquisition, as well as for site management. The second component for Guangdong Autonomous Region supports channel improvement; replacement of two bridges, construction of a dam, power station, shiplock, and access road; the installation of turbines, lock gates, and other equipment; upgrades navigational aids; the purchase of computer hardware for electronic mapping, shiplock management, and a management information system; the financing of service vessels, services vehicles, a survey, monitoring, and ancillary equipment; institutional strengthening, consultant services, and training; and land acquisition.