On June 8, 2026, in Yichang, Hubei Province, deep in the mountains on the left bank of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, the roar of drilling rigs shattered the tranquility of the morning. On this day, the first major national landmark project to start construction during the 15th Five Year Plan period, the Three Gorges Water Transport New Channel, officially broke ground. Standing at the construction site, Niu Xinqiang, an academician of the CAE Member, looked at the busy workers with emotion in his eyes. This elderly person, who was fully involved in the design of the Three Gorges and Gezhouba ship locks, is now once again shouldering the technical banner of the new channel and leading the team to charge towards the three world-class challenges.

The blockage of the Golden Waterway is waiting to be resolved

The Yangtze River, this golden waterway that crosses China, has long been overwhelmed.

By 2025, the annual throughput of the Three Gorges Dam will exceed 170 million tons, exceeding the original design capacity by 70%, and ship lock congestion will become a norm. Shipowners would rather wait in line for ten days than switch to land transportation - water transportation costs only one-fifth of railways and one tenth of highways, and only 3 to 5 cents per ton of goods per kilometer. By 2025, the annual freight volume of Yangtze River shipping will reach 4.2 billion tons, which is 7 times that of the Mississippi River in the United States and 8 times that of the Rhine River in Europe, firmly ranking first in the global inland shipping industry. However, the bottleneck of the ship lock is like a shackle, locking in the potential transportation capacity of the Yangtze River.

Cutting mountains and building gates to overcome difficulties

The location of the new channel on the left bank is the only feasible solution, but it is also the most difficult nut to crack. There is no space on the right bank, and the steep mountain on the left bank has alternating gullies and beams. The rock mass is hard, equivalent to building a sluice on a cliff.

The project requires widening the sluice chamber from 34 meters to 40 meters, increasing the navigable tonnage from 5000 tons to 10000 tons, and doubling the transportation capacity directly. What's even more tricky is the stability control of the 213 meter ultra-high slope, which is 50 meters higher than the old ship lock, and a slight mistake could trigger a landslide. At the same time, Gezhouba needs to demolish old buildings and build new ones without stopping navigation or affecting flood control and power generation, with zero mistakes and no room for any mishaps. Niu Xinqiang admitted that there is no ready-made experience to follow, and the team can only cross the river by feeling the stones and overcome difficulties with independent innovation.

New Landscape of Intelligent Shipping

The Three Gorges Water Transport New Channel, which will start construction in 2026, has a total static investment of 77.208 billion yuan and a total construction period of 112 months. Keywords: news and information on infrastructure projects, transportation infrastructure, Three Gorges water transportation

After completion, the annual design capacity of the Three Gorges Hub will increase from 100 million tons to 336 million tons, and ships of 10000 tons can directly reach Chongqing. The cost of goods going abroad in the Chengdu Chongqing economic circle will be significantly reduced, and the westward relocation of eastern industries will also be more attractive. What is even more worth looking forward to is that green and intelligent shipping will become mainstream - electric ships, hydrogen powered ships will shuttle across the river, and even unmanned ships will be unveiled. At that time, the Yangtze River will not only be a major logistics artery, but also a demonstration corridor for ecological priority and green development, truly realizing the smooth flow and revitalization of the golden waterway.Editor/Gao Xue