China News Service, Yichang, January 16 (Xiang Junsong and Liu Min) According to the news from the Yangtze River Three Gorges Navigation Administration on the 16th, the Three Gorges North Line Ship Lock and Gezhouba No. 2 Ship Lock will be suspended for maintenance after being reported to the Ministry of Transport and the Yangtze River Navigation Administration. It will be implemented at 8 o'clock on March 16, 2021, with suspension periods of 35 days and 32 days respectively.
Three Gorges Ship Lock (data map) Photo by Lin Hai
The stable operation of navigable buildings and supporting equipment is the basic guarantee and prerequisite for ensuring the safe passage of ships through the dam.
The two dam ship locks have been open to navigation 24 hours a day, and a large number of equipment and facilities have been operating under water for a long time.
Gezhouba No. 2 ship lock and the Three Gorges North Line ship lock last planned to suspend the "physical examination" time was 2013 and 2017.
During the shutdown and maintenance period, the Three Gorges South Line ship lock will be operated in one-way timing reversal mode, and it will cooperate with the Gezhouba No. 1 and No. 3 ship locks; eligible ships will pass through the Three Gorges ship lift; dangerous goods ships will be arranged from the Three Gorges South Line The ship lock and Gezhouba No. 1 ship lock pass; the key urgent material ships, container ships, demonstration ships, and integrity ships will be given priority to pass the dam according to the principle of total control.
The cruise ship passes through the Gezhouba lock (data map) photo by Zhou Xingliang
In order to ensure the safe and orderly navigation of the Three Gorges Dam area and the main line of the Yangtze River, the Three Gorges Navigation Administration will effectively control the number of ships waiting to be locked in the reach of the Three Gorges Project near the dam, and reasonably arrange for ships passing through the dam to be anchored in an orderly manner along the way.
The total number of waiting gates in the waters near the dam shall not exceed 600 ships, of which no more than 300 ships are upstream or downstream.
At the same time, the Three Gorges Navigation Administration will focus on reversing the operation of ship locks, emergency anchoring scheduling, priority ship management, optimal allocation of lock times, and evacuation of re-navigation ships.
The number and list of ships involved in the priority pass will be announced to the public in advance and will be supervised by all parties in the society.
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