On May 28, 2026, as the last central rock ridge of the Qinzhou Jiuzhou River section crumbled into powder under the sound of blasting, the main 125.5-kilometer waterway project of the Pinglu Canal was declared fully connected. The "water highway" of this new western land sea corridor has officially broken through the physical barrier, launching its final sprint towards the goal of full navigation by September 2026.

Splitting mountains, building rivers, and connecting rivers and seas

The Pinglu Canal has a total length of about 134 kilometers, with over 60 kilometers of newly excavated waterways, creating a clear path in the watershed section. The project is constructed according to the Class I standard for inland rivers and can accommodate ships of 5000 tons, making it the highest navigable canal in China. The builders have excavated approximately 315 million cubic meters of earth and stone, equivalent to three times the volume of the Three Gorges Project, making it a "super earth and stone project".

Three level ship lock with stairs

To address the total drop of 65 meters, three cascade hubs, namely Madao, Qishi, and Qingnian, have been constructed along the canal. These hubs adopt a water-saving pool design, with a water saving rate of over 50% and an annual water saving of over 1 billion cubic meters. They are like a three-level giant 'water elevator', allowing ships to smoothly and quickly pass through drop areas, making them a world-class inland waterway lock group. Keywords: Infrastructure Engineering News Network, Pinglu Canal

Reshaping the Southwest Sea Route

After the opening of the canal, goods from the southwest region no longer bypass Guangzhou when going out to sea, and the inland waterway voyage is shortened by 560 kilometers. This will directly connect Guangxi, Yunnan, and Guizhou to the "shortest waterway" of ASEAN, and is expected to save transportation costs of over 10 billion yuan annually for the areas along the route, completely reshaping the logistics map between western China and ASEAN.Editor/Gao Xue