Gezhouba Water Conservancy Project

The experimental dam of the Three Gorges Project (TGP) -- the Gezhouba Dam Hydro Electric Project is located at the lower end of the Three Gorges in the suburbs of Yichang, 38 km downstream of the TGP.

The construction of the Gezhouba Dam project started on December 30, 1970 and ended on December 10, 1988. The project includes the barrage, the power plant, the ship brake, the flood discharge brake, and the fishway, etc. It is currently the largest hydropower station in China. The embankment is 2,561m long and 70m high, which controls a drainage area of 1,000,000km2 with total content of 1.58 billion steres. The station possesses of 21 dynamos, with electricenergy production of 2,715 kilowatts, about 13.8 billion kilowatt-hours annually.

The Gezhouba Project will be a conveyance system to the "Three Gorges Project" in the future. After the Gezhouba project was finished, the water level of the river100 km up to the Three Gorges was elevated 20m, and the sea-route was largely improved consequently.

The dam has several sluice-gates, or ship locks. Some sluice-gates are used for accumulating water for irrigation during fraught seasons; some function for generating electricity. But what is most interesting is how boats are lowered or raised by making use of locks. When a boat from the lower level enters a sluice-gate, the gate is closed and the boat is "locked in" between two gates. The water level rises gradually until it reaches a higher level. When the other gate opens, the boat has already climbed up to a higher level. Likewise, boats from a higher level could also easily get to the lower level.