Assessment and exploitation of the waterfront resources in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River

Waterfront resources are important and special kind of natural resources in the marginal area between land and water. The Yangtze River, the longest river in China, is not only rich in waterfront resources, but also has favorable development conditions with great potentiality. Aided by large-scale underwater topographic map, the major factors of the waterfront resources in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, such as the stability, the water depth and the natural conditions for port construction, are assessed in this paper respectively on the basis of the overall investigations. The results show that: (1) the waterfront resources are abundant in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, but lack of perfectly combined high grade waterfront; (2) there exists an obvious regional difference in the natural quality of the waterfront along the Yangtze; (3) the fore-bank water depth and waterfront stability are the main natural factors related to the waterfront quality in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River; (4) the waterfronts along the Yangtze are mainly used for port, warehouse and industrial purposes; and (5) the waterfronts near important cities are highly used, especially the high-quality waterfronts. In addition, some suggestions for the development and utilization of the waterfront resources are presented in this paper.