Locks of Three Gorges Dam - Three Gorges Dam site - Fly to Shanghai

Due to the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, ships must be lifted or lowered over 300 feet (91.4 meters). Because of this height, the water pressure required for a single lock would be too much for one gate to withstand. Instead, the dam uses five locks, each raising or lowering the vessel about 65 feet (19.8 meters).

At about 2am we were awakened by the screeching of 

metal on metal...we were in the first of the 5 locks.

We were joined by another small craft.

Water level dropping.

Ready to move into Lock 2..back to bed.

The two sets of staircase locks, one moving downstream and the other upstream, each consist of five stages and each can handle vessels weighing up to 10,000 tons.  It takes 3 hours for a ship to pass through all five locks.  We caught this picture when we got up.  We then docked at Sandouping and got on buses to take us to the Three Gorges Dam Visitor's Center.  (See details of the Dam at the end of this blog).

There were beautiful yellow flowers greeting us as we rode up the escalator to the dam site.  All of China was with us as it's May Day today!  It's a National Holiday - Labor Day!

Three Gorges Dam Monument

View of the Dam from the first level.  The construction

 in the foreground is for a new elevator for small boats

which will cut down the wait time for them.

The locks from the top

Then a walk down for a closeup.  The doors opening.

In case of emergencies or repairs they could drop

in non-opening gates in the locks.

The backside of the Dam

The locks coming down.

The face of the dam

The dam model

We then headed back to the ship and set sail for the

trip through the Xiling Gorge to Yichang to disembark.

Typical Chinese cruise ships..they were packed today!

Shipyard for new barges.

Fascinating clouds

Xiling Gorge is actually 7 small gorges.

This was one very popular destination with the Chinese ships.  There appeared to be a temple up high on the mountain, a lot of new construction along the banks and several amusement type rides up one of the ravines.  We were wondering if the new construction was time shares...a new arrival to China.

Lush greenery.

Before we knew it we were at Yichang and heading off the ship and onto the bus to the airport.  It was a most enjoyable ride, but we'll miss the close up and personal contacts we had in the Villages.

and we're off to Shanghai, the Paris of the East...

and there are the greenhouses and fields

that provide food for the 15 million people

who call Shanghai home.

Nice roomy quarters again.

Dam Facts from the Ship's Brochure:

Located at Sandouping in Xiling Gorge, the Three Gorges Dam is the largest water conservancy project ever undertaken.  Originally proposed by Dr. Sun Yat-sen in 1919, and begun in 1994, the structure was completed in 2006.  The Dam is 2335 meters long, 185 meters high, 18 meters wide on the top and 130 meters wide at the bottom.  The dam has raised the river to a level of 175 meters above sea level, creating a 600 kilometer long reservoir extending from the dam site all the way to Chongqing.  It has submerged approximately 570,000 acres of farmland, 13 cities, 140 towns, 1352 villages and 657 factories, causing approximately 1.5 million people to be relocated.  The estimate for construction of the project was US $70 billion.  The building of this huge dam is for the purpose of flood control, generation of electricity, navigation and irrigation.