Abstract: There are a lot of small and medium-sized estuaries, and they transport giant sediments, nutritive salts and pollutants into the ocean, which could cause great impact on the geomorphology evolution, natural resources exploitation and the balance of ecosystem. Building tidal sluices at the estuaries could change the original sediment transport patterns, resulting in a series of estuary problems, for example, estuary siltation, pollution and degeneration of ecological system. Taking main estuaries of Yancheng coast for instance, the characteristics of estuaries with tidal sluices were analyzed, and the concept of sustainable improvement and corresponding countermeasures were proposed, in order to ensure the sustainable economic and social development of the estuary areas.