Three Gorges shiplock

 

The shiplock’s downstream chambers were taken out of service during
a two-week inspection in December. Now the upstream side is to be
drained, and the structure and its equipment checked and tested, the
news agency said in its Feb. 11 report.

The Three Gorges shiplock, the biggest of its type in the world, is
currently the only way to get around the dam. The 23-day closure of its
five northbound chambers, which gradually raise boats up to the higher
water level above the dam, is likely to cause transportation woes for
shipping companies and the travelling public.

Most passengers heading upstream will have to disembark at the dam
and continue their journey by bus or train during the Feb. 20-Mar. 13
inspection. And most freight will have to be unloaded and transferred
to boats on the other side of the dam or sent to its destination
overland. Two new "roll-on, roll-off" ports have been built to speed up
the process of moving freight around the dam, China News Service said.

Some boats will still be able to make the trip upstream through the
locks during the three-week disruption, as the southbound side does
double duty and takes traffic in both directions.

But shipping companies can expect to encounter long delays, and
vessels could arrive at the dam to find hundreds of boats waiting to go
through the locks ahead of them. One official at the Three Gorges
Navigation Bureau predicted that a 600-boat traffic jam could develop
during the disruption.

The Three Gorges shiplock is in the midst of a one-year trial
operation, which began after the filling of the reservoir last June.
This is the last scheduled inspection of the structure before its
formal operation commences in June of this year.