page_title: Three Gorges Dam
section_title: Ship lift
hierarchical_section_title: Three Gorges Dam / Navigating the dam / Ship lift
caption_attribution_description: Three Gorges Dam
context_page_description: The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric gravity dam that spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping, in Yiling District, Yichang, Hubei province, China. The Three Gorges Dam has been the world's largest power station in terms of installed capacity since 2012. In 2018, the dam generated 101.6 terawatt-hours, breaking its previous record, but was still slightly lower than the Itaipú Dam, which had set the world record in 2016 after producing 103.1 TWh.
  The dam body was completed in 2006. The power plant of the dam project was completed and fully functional as of July 4, 2012, when the last of the main water turbines in the underground plant began production. Each main water turbine has a capacity of 700 MW. Coupling the dam's 32 main turbines with two smaller generators to power the plant itself, the total electric generating capacity of the dam is 22,500 MW. The last major component of the project, the ship lift, was completed in December 2015.
  As well as producing electricity, the dam is intended to increase the Yangtze River's shipping capacity. By providing flood storage space, the dam reduces the potential for floods downstream which could possibly affect millions.
context_section_description: In addition to the canal locks, there is a ship lift, a kind of elevator for vessels. The ship lift can lift ships of up to 3,000 tons. The vertical distance traveled is 113 m (371 ft), and the size of the ship lift's basin is 120 m × 18 m × 3.5 m (394 ft × 59 ft × 11 ft). The ship lift takes 30 to 40 minutes to transit, as opposed to the three to four hours for stepping through the locks. One complicating factor is that the water level can vary dramatically. The ship lift must work even if water levels vary by 12 meters (39 ft) on the lower side, and 30 m (98 ft) on the upper side.
  The ship lift's design uses a helical gear system, to climb or descend a toothed rack.
  The ship lift was not yet complete when the rest of the project was officially opened on May 20, 2006.
  In November 2007, it was reported in the local media that construction of the ship lift started in October 2007.
  In February 2012, Xinhua reported that the four towers that are to support the ship lift had almost been completed.
  The report said the towers had reached 189 m (620 ft) of the anticipated 195 m (640 ft), the towers would be completed by June 2012 and the entire shiplift in 2015.
  As of May 2014, the ship lift was expected to be completed by July 2015. It was tested in December 2015 and announced complete in January 2016.  Lahmeyer, the German firm that designed the ship lift, said it will take a vessel less than an hour to transit the lift.  An article in Steel Construction says the actual time of the lift will be 21 minutes. It says that the expected dimensions of the 3,000 tonnes (3,000,000 kg) passenger vessels the ship lift's basin was designed to carry will be 84.5 by 17.2 by 2.65 metres (277.2 ft × 56.4 ft × 8.7 ft). The moving mass (including counterweights) is 34,000 tonnes.
  The trials of elevator finished in July 2016, the first cargo ship was lifted in July 15, the lift time comprised 8 minutes.Shanghai Daily reported that the first operational use of the lift was on September 18, 2016, when limited "operational testing" of the lift began.
caption: The shiplift, a kind of elevator, can lift vessels of up to 3,000 tonnes, at a fraction of the time to transit the staircase locks.
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