Shuikou shiplift

The ShuiKou shiplift was built in Fujian province, on the Min River.^[1][2] It can lift vessels displacing 500 tons.^[3] Its caisson's dimensions are 124 metres (407 ft) × 12 metres (39 ft) × 2.5 metres (8.2 ft). The ShuiKou Dam's maximum height is 101 metres (331 ft).

Beside the shiplift there is flight of three conventional locks, also capable of transitting vessels of 500 tons.^[3] When built it was the second largest shiplift in China, after the one being built on the Three Gorges Dam.

World Bank planning documents describe both the shiplift and flight of conventional locks as being capable of transiting two 500 ton vessels.^[4] The World Bank planning documents anticipated 700,000 tons per year would transit the dam. The maximum capacity of the shiplift and flight of locks is 3.2 million tons per year.

Construction of the shiplift began in 1991.^[4] A catastrophic flood on the river, in 1992, delayed completion.

References

1. 吴俊东 (Wu Jundong); 王改会 (Wang Gaihui) (2006). "General design of navigation structure of Pengshui hydropower station". 长江水利委员会,设计院,湖北,武汉 (Changjiang Water Resources Commission, Design Institute, Hubei, Wuhan). Vol. 37, no. 1. pp. 22–24. Retrieved 2019-11-12. The size of the shiplift is only smaller than that of the Three Gorges project's shiplift to be built and that of the completed Shuikou shiplift on the Mingjiang river in Fujian province.
2. Shi Lang; Zhang Yang; Chengxiong Hao; Zhou Ji; Shiduan Wei; Xia Re (2019). "Stability analysis of Hoist Vertical Shiplift chamber under pitching motion". IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering. 631 (3): 032028. doi:10.1088/1757-899X/631/3/032028.
3. "Shuikou" (PDF). Retrieved 2019-11-12. The project consists of concrete gravity dam, powerhouse, 220 kV switch station, 500 kV substation, one-way three-steps ship lock that can accommodate two 500-t barge and ship lift. Its main function is power generation, incorporated with navigation, flood control, irrigation and tourism.
4. "Implementation Completion Report, China, Second Shuikou Hydroelectric Project" (PDF). World Bank. 1999-02-17. Retrieved 2019-11-12. Navigation facilities included in the scope of the first project were a three flight ship-lock to accommodate two 500 ton ships and a raft lift to accommodate a 10.5m x 64m x lm timber and bamboo raft. The transportation capacity of the ship-lock was estimated at 3.2 million tons per year, while that of the raft-lift was 1.6 million m3 per year. By the time of the appraisal of the second loan in mid-1991, FPEPB had decided to upgrade these facilities to convert the raft lift to a vertical ship-lift which could also accommodate two 500 ton ships at the same time. The ship-lift was therefore included in the additional scope of the second project.