Shipping activities via Three Gorges Dam hits new record
2023-10-10 18:10:00
By Yan Wanqin, Yichang International Communication Studio
Shipping activities at the Three Gorges Dam hit new record highs in the first three quarters of this year, as stated by the Three Gorges Navigation Authority.
From January to September, the combined passenger and cargo throughput of the world's largest hydropower project reached 131 million tonnes, an increase of nearly 11 percent from the same period of the previous year.
Shipping activities at the Three Gorges Dam hit new record highs in the first three quarters of this year, as stated by the Three Gorges Navigation Authority.
From January to September, the combined passenger and cargo throughput of the world's largest hydropower project reached 131 million tonnes, an increase of nearly 11 percent from the same period of the previous year.
Aerial view of the Three Gorges Dam in Yichang City. Photo by Zheng Jiayu.
During this period, its five-tier ship locks were used 8,340 times, helping 32,000 vessels pass through. The throughput reached 127 million tonnes, marking a growth of 10 percent year-on-year.
This is the first time for the ship locks to break the 120-million-tonne mark during the first three quarters of their 20 total years of operation.
Ships pass through the five-tier ship locks of the Three Gorges Dam. Photo by Zheng Jiayu.
In August alone, the ship locks handled more than 15.71 million tonnes of cargo, exceeding the monthly 15-million-tonne mark for the first time.
The Three Gorges project is a multi-functional water control system located on the Yangtze River, the country's longest waterway. It consists of a 2,309-meter-long and 185-meter-high dam, five-tier ship locks, a ship lift, and 34 turbo-generators with a combined power generating capacity of 22.5 million kilowatts.
Since the five-tier ship locks opened to trial navigation in June 2003, the volume of freight passing through has rapidly increased.
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).
