Gezhouba Shipping Capacity Expansion Main Project Starts

China News Service, Yichang, Hubei, October 10th (Guo Xiaoying, Dong Xiaobin, Lucio) The construction of the upstream and downstream cofferdams for the shipping capacity expansion of Gezhouba Dam officially started on the 10th. This marks that Gezhouba's shipping capacity expansion, an important part of the Three Gorges New Water Transport Channel Project, has entered the main construction stage.

The Gezhouba shipping capacity expansion is located on the left bank of the completed Gezhouba water conservancy hub. The project will demolish the existing No. 3 ship lock and build two 10,000-ton ship locks with effective dimensions of 280 meters × 40 meters × 8 meters (length × width × minimum water depth on the sill) at the original site. In the future, single ships with a capacity of 10,000 tons can pass through the Gezhouba hub smoothly.

The cofferdam is the first key hurdle in the construction of Gezhouba's shipping capacity expansion. The two cofferdams constructed on that day will jointly protect the construction area with the bank slopes, creating prerequisites for the dry construction of the new 10,000-ton ship lock.

On October 10, the construction of the upstream and downstream cofferdams for Gezhouba Shipping Capacity Expansion officially started and entered the main construction phase. (Drone photo) Photo by Zhou Xingliang

The upstream cofferdam is a Class I temporary hydraulic structure. The flood control standards are based on the Gezhouba main dam. The total length is 835.94 meters, the maximum weir height is 28 meters, and the total construction period is 24 months. The downstream cofferdam consists of four parts: concrete cofferdam, steel pipe pile cofferdam, earth and rock cofferdam and rock ridge cofferdam, with a total length of 960.85 meters.

"The cofferdam construction area is located in the core navigable waters of the Gezhouba hub. It is necessary to seize the dry water window period to ensure that the cofferdam is closed on schedule, and to coordinate various tasks such as navigation support." Wang Xiao, deputy director of the Gezhouba Capacity Expansion Project Management Department of the Three Gorges Corporation Three Gorges New Corridor Company, said that the project team will strengthen safety and quality control throughout the process, promote the construction of the cofferdam to high standards, and lay a solid foundation for the subsequent construction of the main ship lock.

During the construction period, Gezhouba Ship Lock No. 2 will remain in operation, and relevant navigation sections will be subject to navigation control in accordance with announcements issued by the navigation management department.

Lan Yufeng, deputy director of the Navigation Safety Department of the Yangtze Three Gorges Navigation Administration, said that the navigation management department will set up a navigation emergency support center in the 59-kilometer Three Gorges stretch to support four comprehensive stations: Taiping Creek, Letian Creek, Huangbai River, and Miaozui. , strengthening measures from the aspects of ship crossing linkage control, dam crossing dispatching, water safety supervision, waterway maintenance, key material support and ship waiting services to ensure the safe, orderly and smooth flow of the Yangtze River's golden waterway during the construction period of the Three Gorges Water Transport New Channel Project.

The Three Gorges Water Transport New Channel Project started on June 8, 2026. It is the largest comprehensive project on the Yangtze River trunk line after the Three Gorges Project that integrates water conservancy, shipping, ecological and other functions. It is the first major landmark project started in China during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period. (over)