Cable stayed bridge over the Chang Jiang at the downstream approach to the Gezhouba Dam locks.

The Gezhouba Water Control Project (长江葛洲坝水利枢纽工程) is located in the suburbs of Yichang City in central China's Hubei province.

Here, after rushing out of Nanjin Pass, the Yangtze River slows down and widens from 300 m to about 2,200 m at the dam site. Two small islands, Gezhouba and Xiba, divided the river into three channels. There the Gezhouba Project was built.

It was completed in 1989 and boasts a generating capacity of 2.71 million kW along with three ship locks, two power stations that generate 14.1 billion kWh of electricity annually, the 27 gates of the spillway, and the no flowing Dam on both banks. The dam is 2,595 m long with a maximum height of 47 m. The reservoire has a total volume of 1.58 billion m³.

The navigation lock No. 2 on the third channel was, when built, one of the largest in the world. The lock chamber is 280 m long and 34 m wide, with a minimum draft of 5 m at the sill. It provides passage for ships of 10.000 tons.

External Links

• Hubei: Gezhouba Water Control Project (http://www.hubei.gov.cn/lvyou/yichang/yichang2.htm)
• Some facts about the Gezhouba Dam (http://www.yangtzecruises.com/resources/some_facts.html)