Abandoned freight docks on Suzhou Creek in downtown Shanghai have been removed to reduce water pollution and improve the surrounding landscape.
The effort began in early 1998 when about 123 of the docks, many of which built before 1949, were nearly idle.
The docks ran from the Garden Bridge to the Zhongshan Road Bridge.
“Restructuring of industries has resulted in the reduction of textile factories along the creek,”said an official with the Municipal Suzhou Creek Clean-Up and Renovation office. The textile firms used docks for lading.
“The long-term effort to turn the waterway into a sightseeing attraction necessitates the removing of docks,” Zhou said.
The creek, which in the past was used for sewage discharge, flood control and barge traffic, is being cleaned up in accordance with a 1996 plan drafted by the city.
The first phase of the project, accounting for 8.65 billion yuan (US$1 billion) in clean-up efforts, began early this year, and will be completed in three years.
Several of the remaining docks handle nearly 20 tons of garbage from downtown stretches of the creek.
“The old docks have also become gathering places where itinerant workers sift through garbage,” said the official.
Dozens of factories in the vicinity of the creek have been closed or relocated in recent years. The remaining 10 garbage docks will be dismantled soon.
Freight and garbage will be moved by surface transportation, the official noted.
Ships and barges will not be permitted to ply a five-kilometer stretch of the creek – for Changshu Road Bridge to Garden Bridge – though the schedule is still under discussion.
Much of the renovated dock area will be landscaped.
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