The Three Gorges Dam’s ship lift helps eligible vessels cross the dam; it does not control floods. Flood risk is managed separately by operating the reservoir: drawing it down before flood season creates storage space for incoming water, then carefully managing releases. The lift and reservoir therefore support different goals—navigation and flood management—within the same river system.
How does the Three Gorges Dam control floods?
Flood protection comes from the Three Gorges Reservoir’s operating levels and managed releases, not from lifting boats over the dam. Lowering the reservoir ahead of the flood season creates room to hold incoming floodwater. Storing some of that water can reduce or delay downstream peaks; later releases are managed alongside needs such as navigation and water supply.
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China Three Gorges Corporation reported that the reservoir stood at 147.78 metres on 7 June 2026, creating 20.8 billion cubic metres of flood-control capacity. That is a dated operating figure for that season, not a fixed annual capacity. In a separate historical example, the corporation reported that the reservoir intercepted 12.68 billion cubic metres during the Yangtze’s first and second numbered floods of 2024.
How does a ship get past the Three Gorges Dam?
Vessels cross by using one of two navigation routes: the five-stage ship-lock system or the ship lift. The lift is a vertical caisson system that supplements the locks; it does not replace them. An operator account describes larger vessels using the locks and smaller boats using the lift, but access and eligibility can change, so vessels must follow current navigation notices.
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The lift is intended for vessels in the 3,000-tonne class, including large passenger and tour vessels and some fast cargo vessels, according to a 2016 government announcement. The locks and lift serve different traffic and have different capacity and operating constraints, so the lift’s specifications do not describe the dam’s total navigation capacity.
How does the boat elevator work?
The vessel enters a water-filled caisson, which is raised or lowered vertically to align with the waterway on the other side of the dam. The caisson carries the vessel and its water rather than asking the vessel to climb through a series of lock chambers. The system’s controlled movement depends on large mechanical components working in synchronization.
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The 2016 government announcement gives the lift’s maximum vertical rise as 113 metres. Its caisson is 132 metres long, 23.4 metres wide and 10 metres high; the lifting weight exceeds 15,500 tonnes. The complete route is reported as about 5,000 metres, and the tower structure is 146 metres tall.
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How do the ship lift and locks compare?
| Measure | Ship lift | Ship locks |
|---|---|---|
| Vessel class | Designed for 3,000-tonne-class vessels, according to the 2016 government announcement. | The 2016 announcement describes eligible vessels using the permanent ship lock but does not give a comparable tonnage figure. |
| Passage-time figures | The 2016 announcement estimated about 40 minutes through the lift. In May 2024, the operator reported an average ship transit time through the dam of about 49 minutes, down from 75 minutes under its comparison. | The 2016 announcement estimated about 3.5 hours through the permanent ship lock for the eligible vessels discussed. |
| Route | A caisson carries the vessel vertically across the dam. | A five-stage lock system raises or lowers vessels through successive chambers. |
| Role | A supplementary route for eligible vessels. | A route that works alongside the lift and serves traffic according to its own operating and eligibility rules. |
The time estimates are not a controlled head-to-head comparison: the 2016 figure compares expected passage times for eligible vessels, while the 2024 operator figure describes average ship transit through the dam and its own earlier comparison. Treat them as separate, dated measures rather than a single universal travel time.
Can ships pass through the dam during floods?
Flood conditions and navigation availability are related through reservoir and waterway operations, but a ship lift does not make a vessel immune to flood-related restrictions. Whether a particular vessel can pass depends on its eligibility and current operating notices. The Ministry of Transport listed a notice dated 29 September 2026 announcing restoration of ship-lift navigation after an interruption, illustrating that service availability can change.
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For a historical sense of activity, China Three Gorges Corporation reported over 40,500 cumulative safe lift operations, more than 16.829 million tonnes of cargo and over 1.1 million passengers since the September 2016 trial, as of its 22 May 2024 report. These are cumulative totals through that reporting date, not annual traffic figures or evidence of flood-control performance.
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The ship lift maintains a way for eligible boats to cross the dam, while the reservoir’s seasonal drawdown and managed storage address flood risk. The dam combines navigation infrastructure with reservoir operations, but those functions should not be confused: vessel movements demonstrate use of a crossing, not the effectiveness of flood control.
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