On October 10, construction officially began on the upstream and downstream cofferdams for the Gezhouba navigation capacity expansion project, a key component of the Three Gorges new waterway project, marking the expansion project’s full entry into the main construction phase.
Together with the riverbank slopes, the two cofferdams will enclose the work area, creating the preconditions for dry-land construction of the new 10,000-ton ship locks.
The navigation capacity expansion project, on the left bank of the Gezhouba hub, will remove the existing No 3 ship lock and build two new 10,000-ton locks on its original site, each measuring 280 meters in length, 40 meters in width and 8 meters in height. Upon completion, single 10,000-ton vessels will be able to navigate smoothly through the Gezhouba hub. (....)