All construction work on the world's largest hydroelectric project, the Three Gorges Dam in China, has been completed. The final component—the world's largest vertical ship lift—has been finished.
The dam has a lift so that small and medium-sized boats can pass through a height of 113 meters, in about 40 minutes, allowing these vessels to cross the Yangtze River.
This ship elevator was designed by a team of Chinese and German engineers, and it is 120 meters long, 18 meters wide, and 3.5 meters deep.
The construction of this elevator reduces the time it takes for boats to navigate the existing elevation difference, since Until now, five locks have been used, which took nearly five hours to pass through.
This dam, whose construction began in 1993, has a installed capacity of 22,500 MW. The The dam's crest length is 2,335 meters and features a about 180 m high. The Three Gorges Dam is the largest hydroelectric project in the world.
Construction of this hydroelectric plant took a total of 23 years.
