Three Gorges Dam cargo throughput reaches 1.91 billion tonnes after 20 years of operation
2023-06-19 15:06:08
By Ma Yuhan, Yichang International Communication Studio
The cargo throughput of the Three Gorges Dam locks, the world’s largest hydropower project, has reached a total of 1.91 billion tonnes over its 20 years of operation, the Three Gorges Navigation Authority said on Sunday.
Since opening for trial navigation in 2003, more than 993,000 ships and about 12.24 million passengers have passed through the Three Gorges Dam locks.
The cargo throughput of the Three Gorges Dam locks, the world’s largest hydropower project, has reached a total of 1.91 billion tonnes over its 20 years of operation, the Three Gorges Navigation Authority said on Sunday.
Since opening for trial navigation in 2003, more than 993,000 ships and about 12.24 million passengers have passed through the Three Gorges Dam locks.
Photo by Zheng Jiayu
The advantages of waterway transportation, such as low energy consumption, less pollution, extensive shipping coverage and low shipping costs, are on full display through the success of the dam.
Navigation conditions on the Yangtze River have also been improved, and the maximum allowed tonnage of vessels passing through has increased from 1,000 to 5,000 tonnes.
In 2011, the annual cargo throughput of the Three Gorges Dam locks exceeded 100 million tonnes for the first time, reaching its designed capacity 19 years ahead of schedule.
Last year, the ship locks set new annual records in number of ships passing through (about 40,600), number of batches passing through (about 10,400) and cargo throughput tonnage (156 million tonnes).
