SU-PEI CANAL

WadeGiles romanization Su-pei-kuan-kai-tsung Ch', Pinyin Subei Guangai Zong Qu, English Northern Kiangsu Main Irrigation Canal canal in Kiangsu Province, China, designed to provide a direct outlet to the sea for the waters of the Huai River, which in medieval times had discharged near the mouth of the modern Kuan River. In 1186 the Huang Ho (Yellow River) changed its course to discharge south of the Shantung Peninsula, thus usurping the lower course of the Huai, which thereafter discharged into Hung-tse Lake and thence southward through a string of lakes and waterways into the Yangtze River near Yang-chou (Kiangsu). In the early years of the 20th century the drainage of the Huai area had become a perennial problem. A canal was constructed in 193437 linking Hung-tse Lake with the sea. It was designed not only as a channel for the discharge of floodwaters but also as the main artery of an extensive network of drainage and irrigation channels. In 1938, however, the diversion of the Huang Ho into the Huai caused much further damage. After 1950 the main Su-pei Canal linking the Huai River with the sea was largely rebuilt and was incorporated into a waterway system covering the coastal belt of Kiangsu Province north of the Yangtze, which was designated as the Su-pei Irrigation District. The new canal, 104 miles (168 km) in length, leaves Hung-tse Lake through a large lock at Hung-tse (Kao-lang-chien) to cross the Grand Canal at Huai-an. There, large locks and sluices controlled the entry to both the northern and southern sections of the Grand Canal, while another lock gave access to the Yn-yen Ho (Salt Transport Canal), running northwestward to Lien-yn-kang. The main canal flows into the sea at Liu-to to the east of Pin-hai, its mouth being protected by a tidal sluice. Several trunk canals have also been built as main arteries of the irrigation and transport system to the south of the main canal. North of the main Su-pei Canal, there have been extensive repairs and improvements to the Yn-yen Canal, which has a series of new locks and sluices, while the courses of several other rivers in the area have been canalized as well. They now form the main arteries to which a great number of smaller local irrigation and drainage projects have been connected.