THE dredging project on Beijing-Hangzhou Canal Wuxi section has been completed, enabling ships up to 1,000 tonnes to access it. The section has also been installed with traffic management system to become an "intelligent" channel.
Xinhua reports that "intelligence" is the focus of the upgrading project of the Wuxi section and is the first step in exploring the application of "internet of things", meaning the technology of identification of objects like RFID or 2D code, in the field of canal shipping.
There are sensors installed on the bank of the section, which will automatically collect and transfer the data via a cable network to the control centre for analysis to support 24-hour control and tracking of the shipping traffic.
The southern-Jiangsu section of Beijing-Hangzhou Canal is one of China's major waterways, undertaking the transportation of commodities of 13 provinces along or near the canal. The Wuxi section carries a total tonnage of 200 million tonnes per year, with a cargo movement of four times of the Shanghai-Nanjing railway Wuxi section and five times of the Shanghai-Nanjing expressway Wuxi section. The sailing frequency even surpasses that of River Rhine.
With completion of the project, the Wuxi section's annual capacity has risen from 153 to 296 million tonnes. Ship speed has also gone up from 12.5 to 16.2 kilometres per hour.