During the Franco-Chinese war (1884-85), Liu Ming-chuan, the imperial commissioner who had been sent by the Manchu regime on the mainland to fight the invaders, sank 20 boats loaded with stones in the Tamsui estuary to block the advance of the French ships.
清光緒十年（1884），中法戰爭爆發，法艦砲轟淡水，台灣巡撫劉銘傳，為抵擋法軍，曾以廿艘滿載石頭的大船，沈入淡水河口，防止了敵艦的駛入，卻也種下了淤塞的主因。