How did the Three Gorges cruise ship cross the Three Gorges Dam? Surprisingly, I took the elevator

How did the Three Gorges cruise ship cross the Three Gorges Dam? Surprisingly, I took the elevator

The Three Gorges Dam, known as the world's largest dam, is 185 meters high, equivalent to the height of a 60 story building. So how did ships cross the natural barrier and pass through the Three Gorges Dam? I believe many friends are curious about this issue. Customers often ask, do I need to cross the Three Gorges Dam to take a Three Gorges cruise? The editor can only answer based on the specific situation, but today I will talk about how the ship crossed the Three Gorges Dam.

The Three Gorges Dam is 185 meters high and has a normal water level of 175 meters. Ships cannot directly pass through the dam and must use a ship lift specially customized by CSIC to navigate, which feels like taking an "elevator".

The first step for a ship to navigate is to enter the interior of a huge ship lift. Due to the limited space and water level inside the lock, it cannot withstand large ships of tens of thousands of tons, usually 3000 ton passenger and cargo ships.

After a stable stop, the elevator will slowly and smoothly lift the ship through the heavily loaded gear rack, just like we take an elevator upstairs, except that we won't feel dizzy, except for seasickness. If space factors are not taken into account, this ship lift can lift 1500 cars at once, which shows the huge power of the ship lift and deserves praise for Chinese manufacturing!

Number: 72 Three Gorges Dam Ship Lock

How do ships in the Three Gorges take the elevator?

The Three Gorges ship lift and the Three Gorges double line five level ship lock are both navigation structures of the Three Gorges Project. They have the characteristics of high lifting height, large lifting weight, large upstream navigation water level fluctuation, and fast downstream water level change rate. They are currently the technically difficult and largest ship lift in the world.

If a ship wants to sail upstream from the downstream of the dam, first the ship enters the carrier compartment and closes the downstream gate of the carrier compartment. The carrier compartment rises through a climbing device until the water level inside the carrier compartment is level with the upstream reservoir water level. Open the upstream gate of the carrier compartment, and the ship exits the carrier compartment and enters the upstream channel. The ship travels from upstream to downstream, which is the opposite of its process.

How do ships cross the Three Gorges Dam now?

As of now, there are two main ways to pass through the Three Gorges Dam by boat. Large boats climb stairs, while small boats take elevators. What exactly does this mean? In fact, the so-called staircase here is a double line five level boat shed, with separate access to the upper and lower dams. Each line has a total length of about 6442 meters and a total of five sheds. When the ship is sailing from below the dam to above, if one of the five chambers is selected to enter, the chamber door will close and the ship will automatically flush, causing the ship parked in the chamber to lift up due to buoyancy.

When the water level in the chamber where the ship is located is at the same level as the water level in the other four chambers, repeatedly open the chamber door and board the ship to the chamber. At this moment, the ship is like climbing stairs, constantly climbing. When it reaches the surface of the dam, the process of passing through the chamber can be considered complete. The meaning of taking the elevator is to use a ship lift to complete it, just like humans taking the elevator. Small boats have a relatively small tonnage, so crossing the dam can be done in one go, and the time required for this is naturally much less than the previous double line five class ship.

How amazing! You have the opportunity to take a Three Gorges cruise and experience the Three Gorges Dam lock.