Published : 08/07/2025

On July 8, 2004, the second phase ship lock of the Yangtze River Three Gorges Dam project officially opened to traffic.

After a year of trial navigation, the Three Gorges Dam ship lock, which is the world's largest, passed the inspection by the expert group and transitioned from trial navigation to official operation on that day.

The main focus of the inspection of the ship lock was to check whether the it was suitable for official navigation at water levels ranging from 135 to 139 metres.

After three days of intensive on-site inspections, the 37-member inspection group, consisting of relevant ministries and experts, concluded that since the trial navigation, the ground buildings and water transfer systems of the ship lock were operating normally, the sailing conditions were good, and the monitoring system performance was stable, meeting the above conditions.

The Three Gorges Dam ship lock consists of a double-line five-stage lock, which began construction in 1994 and started trial navigation in June 2003.

It was the world's largest multi-stage inland ship lock at the time, boasting the highest total hydraulic head and the greatest water head differential between chambers.

The main structure of the Three Gorges Dam ship lock was excavated from high mountains, hence it is also known as the "Fourth Gorge of the Yangtze River."

According to incomplete statistics, the Three Gorges ship Lock has facilitated 8,381 transits since commencing trial operations, accommodating 68,617 vessel movements, while serving 2.04 million passengers and handling 30.13 million tonnes of cargo.