(I) A tough start

For road construction, there are roads before stations. The same logic seems to be true of port construction. Ports and docks act as the “stations” for ships, and the waterways are the “roads” for ships. The waterway construction has a long history that can be traced back to the emergence of the modern dredging industry in China.

At the end of the 19th century, the ancient China was passively integrated into the international trading system. The two gateway cities in China, namely Tianjin in the north and Shanghai in the south, needed waterway for Western merchant ships. In 1897, or the 23rd year under the reign of Emperor Guangxu, the government of the Qing Dynasty approved the establishment of the Haihe Engineering Bureau, China’s first professional dredging agency, with a view to addressing the problems of floods and droughts and improving the waterways in Haihe River. Eight years later, the Qing government set up the Junpu Engineering General Administration to solve the problem of insufficient water depth of the Huangpu River waterways. This was a passive step, but it made Tianjin and Shanghai the shipping centers well-connected with rivers and seas. In 1911, the Haihe Engineering Bureau purchased land on the bank of the Haihe River (current address: No. 41, Taierzhuang Road, Hexi District, Tianjin) and put up three buildings for offices and residence. During the following nearly 100 years, China’s dredging industry has kept growing thanks to the efforts made by generations of Chinese people. Today, Haihe Engineering Bureau and Junpu Engineering General Administration have developed into CCCC Tianjin Dredging Co., Ltd. (TDC) and CCCC Shanghai Dredging Co., Ltd. (SDC), respectively.

Haihe Engineering Bureau established in 1897 (Photo by courtesy of TDC)

In 1902, the Haihe Engineering Bureau purchased the “Beihe” bucket-chain dredger from the West, followed by a number of “Zhonghua” dredgers/reclamation dredgers, for the building of shipyard to assemble and repair dredging vessels. In the meantime, the project for the improvement of Haihe River was launched to build sluice gates for water storage and diversion, improve the bends, dredge the river channels, and reclaim the land. The “Zhonghua” vessels made pioneering contribution to the dredging of the Dagusha Channel. By 1933, ships with a draft of 4 meters could only enter and exit Tianjin Port. For more than 30 years, the Haihe Engineering Bureau engaged in reclaiming land on a large scale in Tianjin. Today, most of the Heping District, Hedong District, and Hexi District were filled with dredged soil from the Haihe River at that time, which expanded the area of Tianjin City.

Office Building of Junpu Engineering General Administration in 1927 (Photo by courtesy of SDC)

The waterway of Huangpu River in Shanghai features varied widths and depths, numerous shoals, and dispersed water flows, leading to insufficient water depth and making it difficult for large ships to sail through. The Junpu Engineering General Administration built the Wusong guide levee and the new Gaoqiao channel. Around 1911, the depth at the lower reaches of the Huangpu River had increased from less than one meter to nearly six meters, more than doubling the imports and exports at the Shanghai Port. Subsequently, the government continued to improve the Huangpu River. After more than 20 years, Shanghai Port became the seventh largest port in the world in 1931.

In 1918, Dutch companies came to China for port construction in Yantai, Huludao, Lianyungang, Huangpu River, and other places. Some Chinese technicians and workers joined the construction teams, but there wasn’t a mature system for the construction yet.

In July 1937, the Japanese army launched a war of aggression against China. On July 12th, the invaders landed at Tanggu Dock, cut off shipping channels at Tianjin Port, hijacked the dock, and plundered Chinese resources. The Haihe Engineering Bureau, which was controlled by the British, was seized by the Japanese invaders. After usurping the Haihe Engineering Bureau, they brutalized the workers and plunged the bureau into chaos. Under such circumstances, the waterway construction stagnated.

In Shanghai, the Japanese army looted the ship equipment from the Junpu Engineering General Administration. A total of ten ships, including “Jianshe,” “Haima,” “Hailong,” “Haihu,” and other dredgers and survey vessels were transported to Japan. As a result, the silt kept accumulating and the river bed kept narrowing in the waterway of Huangpu River. Most employees of the Junpu Engineering General Administration quitted their job to join the army against the Japanese aggression, while the remaining employees resisted the Japanese rule by all means. As a result, the Japanese army had no choice but to recruit “miscellaneous personnel” as crew members who were partly taken to Japan as hostages and returned Shanghai only after Japanese surrender. And afterwards, the Junpu Engineering General Administration took back some ships from the Japanese army and started dredging work in the Huangpu River. The amount of sediments dredged in 1936 alone exceeded that during eight years of Japanese aggression.

“Haima” bucket-chain dredger, with a grab capacity of 10 m3, was at the construction site of Sichuan Road and Bridge in Suzhou River in 1932. (Photo by courtesy of SDC)

During the years of Japanese aggression, Tianjin Port fell into the hands of the Japanese army. However, the throughput capacity of Tianjin Port located in the urban area could not meet the Japanese army’s needs for shipping the strategic materials. They intended to build a new seaport at the estuary of Haihe River, or modern-day Tanggu, and named it “Tianjin Xingang.” The Japanese army purchased a batch of new dredgers, transferred some engineers from Japan, and plundered a large number of Chinese workers to form a port-building agency. By 1945, Tianjin Xingang was basically completed, but before its official opening, the Japanese invaders surrendered.

Following the victory of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the government of the Republic of China took over the Haihe Engineering Bureau, Junpu Engineering General Administration, along with the Tianjin Xingang, and established the Xingang Engineering Bureau.

Afterwards, the government of the Republic of China intended to build ports. In 1946, it initiated the restoration of Tanggu Dock and the waterway, and introduced a three-year construction plan. However, due to the financial strain and chaotic management, the three-year plan was never put into practice and the port facilities were damaged severely. The dredging of Haihe River struggled to continue, while other tasks went on intermittently. The workers struggled to meet their basic life needs. In the Junpu Engineering General Administration, the government of the Republic of China reclaimed most of the ships and workshops. At the beginning of 1947, more than 60 ships of various types were taken back. The administration was getting stronger, but it made no notable progress in port construction and management and in the waterway construction.

However, it marked the beginning of China’s modern port construction. The Xingang Engineering Bureau has evolved into the CCCC First Harbor Engineering Co., Ltd. The CCCC 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Harbor Engineering Co., Ltd. set up after the founding of the New China were supported by Xingang Engineering Bureau. Therefore, Xingang Engineering Bureau or CCCC First Harbor Engineering Co., Ltd. is dubbed the “cradle of port construction” in China.