On Dec. 11, 2013, the Water Transport Department of MoT organized in Beijing a meeting to review the Working Outline of Research on Key Technology for Navigation Safety of Three-Gorge Ship-Lift. Over 30 participants came from the Resettlement Planning Dept. and the Technology and Equipment Dept. of the State Council’s Three-Gorge Project Office, the Yangtze River Navigation Bureau and the research implementing institutions including NHRI, the Three-Gorge Navigation Bureau, Wuhan University of Technology, China Water Transport Planning and Design Institute, and the Yangtze River Ship Design Institute. Academician Liang Yingchen and Master Designer Wu Peng and other 7 experts were invited to form an expert group. A report from the research implementing institutions was delivered for discussion and the relevant working outline was approved unanimously.
It was held that the lift was characterized by huge weight, ultra lifting height, high-fluctuation water level in the upstream, frequent velocity variation in the downstream, and complex layout and operation dispatching, hence the most technically complicated and largest-scale lift, and that the research was very necessary and timely.
In implementing the research, field investigation, physical modeling, operation simulation and ship modeling were applied with a clear study orientation and a correct technical route, the implementing plan was quite rational, and the research findings were fruitful, said the conclusion.
NHRI, one of the implementing institutions, will devote itself to the study on a series of technical hard nuts so as to provide scientific bases to ensure a safe and efficient operation of the lift.