J.Geogr.Sci.2023,33(3):547-575DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-023-2096-8©2023SciencePressSpringer-VerlagRelationshipbetweenpotentialwaterwaydepthimprovementandevolutionoftheJingjiangReachoftheYangtzeRiverinChinaYANGYunping1,LIMing2,LIUWanli1,*CHAIYuanfang3,ZHANGJie1,YUWenjun21.TianjinResearchInstituteforWaterTransportEngineering,MinistryofTransport,Tianjin300456,China;2.ChangjiangWaterwayInstituteofPlanningandDesign,Wuhan430040,China;3.InstituteofInternationalRiversandEco-security,YunnanUniversity,Kunming650000,ChinaAbstract:Giventheimportanceofwaterwaydepthsinriverdevelopment,theeffectsoftheevolutionofbarsandtroughsonwaterwayexpansionplayanimportantroleinriverman-agementandwaterdepthconservation.ThisstudyaimstoexpandthewaterwaydimensionsoftheJingjiangReachoftheYangtzeRiver.Toachievethisobjective,determiningtherela-tionshipbetweenriverevolutionprocessesandthepotentialforwaterwaydepthimprovementandnavigationhindrancesisvital.Therefore,thesedimentation,hydrological,andterraindataoftheJingjiangReachfrom1955to2020areanalysedtoelucidatetheabove-mentionedrelationship.SincethecommissioningoftheThreeGorgesDam,thescouringofthelow-flowchannelhasaccountedfor90%–95%ofallscouringintheJingjiangReach.Furthermore,thecentralbarsandbeacheshaveshrunkby9.4%and24.9%,respec-tively,and18.3%overall.ConsideringthebedscouringandwaterwayregulationprojectsintheJingjiangReach,weinvestigatedthecontinuityofa4.5m×200m×1050m(depth×width×bendradius)waterwayalongtheJingjiangReach,andfindthatnavigation-hinderingchannelsaccountforover5.3%ofthewaterwaylength.Furthermore,partoftheJingjiangReachisanimportantnaturereserveandsheltersnumerouswater-relatedfacilities,whichinhibitstheimplementationofwaterwaydeepeningprojects.ThefindingsofthisstudydemonstratethatnumerouschallengesareassociatedwithincreasingthewaterwaydepthsoftheJingjiangReach.Keywords:beachtroughevolution;branchingrelationship;waterwaydepth;JingjiangReach;middlereachesoftheYangtzeRiver1IntroductionInlandshippingplaysanimportantrolein...
