OPENING UP OF THE TIDAL INLET (NACHAO RIVER) ON CAOFEIDIAN SHOAL IN TANGSHAN, HEBEI PROVINCE AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE

The initial Caofeidian Reclamation Project was apparently defective in excessive reclaiming areas, which blocked the shoal tidal inlet, and brought obvious damages to the marine environment and the Laolonggou Harbor potential zone. In 2007, the authors made a positive suggestion on the plan and published several papers to facilitate the new reclamation plan in 2007. The key point of the new plan is to reopen the inlet or Nachao River and to build a large harbor pool in the upper reach of the Laolonggou channel. The topographic and geomorphic transformations as well as the hydrodynamic changes taking place in recent years in the Caofeidian region after the shoal tidal inlet blocked have proven the correctness of the writer's viewpoints. In August of 2016, the shoal tidal inlet or the Nachao River was reopened finally. The opening up of the Nachao River can improve the Caofeidian landscape, increase about 40km of coastline without siltation, partly recover the marine tidal system, protect marine environment, facilitate the seawater circulation, and avoid siltation in harbor pools.