Chinese Premier Hails Maiden Trial Navigation via Lock at Three Gorges

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, June 17, 2003

Chinese Premier Hails Maiden Trial Navigation via Lock at Three Gorges

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Monday described as vital achievements the filling of Three Gorges reservoir and the successful trial navigation of the ship lock.

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Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Monday described as vital achievements the filling of Three Gorges reservoir and the successful trial navigation of the ship lock.

In his written comments, Wen attributed these achievements to the hard work of the builders of the Three Gorges dam project, thecontributions made by the people relocated from the submerged reservoir areas, and the support of people from all walks of life across the country.

The new Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River opened to shipping on Monday as two passenger ships and five freight vesselspassed through the lock in two hours and 35 minutes, concluding at11:55 a.m.

Zhang Qingsong, director of the Three Gorges Navigation Bureau,announced later the maiden trial navigation via the permanent shiplock, which began at 9 a.m. (Beijing Time) was a great success.

The trial navigation will last for about a year as engineers fine-tune and test the lock.

The success of the maiden trial navigation signified the resumption of shipping on the Yangtze River after its suspension of 67 straight days for the dam project.

Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan launched the trial navigation at the dam site.

Addressing to a ceremony attended by nearly 1,000 construction workers at the dam site, he said the Three Gorges dam project had begun to pay off after a decade of construction.

The vice-premier called on engineers working for the dam project to do a good job in preparing for trial operation of the first group of power generating units at the dam.

It was critical to step up efforts to formulate regulations on management of the project to ensure the safe and stable operation of the relevant facilities, and to prevent geological disasters and water pollution in reservoir areas, he said.

The two-way five-step lock, the largest in the world, was builtentirely by Chinese engineers after solving a number of unprecedented technical difficulties.

The lock, completed after about a decade of strenuous work at acost of some 6.2 billion yuan (about 750 million US dollars), features a two-way lifting facility for the 113-meter drop betweenthe upstream and downstream separated by the gigantic dam.

With the permanent ship lock in operation, ships will be able to pass through the dam in about two-and-a-half hours via the 6.44-km dock on the northern bank of the Yangtze.

The lock has 24 lock gates, each weighing 867 tons, which were built entirely by China's two flagship shipyards located in Wuhan,the capital city of central Hubei province, and in Shanghai, east China.

Previous trial operations and tests have shown that the gates and relevant opening and closing mechanisms comply with sophisticated international standards.

The metallic structures and electronic equipment of the lock gates were made and installed by 16 large Chinese enterprises from14 provinces and municipalities.

Scheduled for completion in 2009, the Three Gorges project willstart to pay dividends this year, playing a vital role in flood control, hydro-power generation, navigation, water diversion and environmental protection.

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