Ship lift at Three Gorges Dam, China – design of steel structures

The vertical ship lift at the Three Gorges Dam in China will consist of a reinforced concrete structure with an internal steel ship chamber. The chamber will be a self-supporting orthotropic plate structure, continuously suspended from ropes with counterweights. Its components, such as segment gates, drive, horizontal guiding systems in the longitudinal and transverse directions plus locking and safety mechanisms are described here. A special procedure for reducing the tolerances of the steel components embedded in the reinforced concrete structure is explained.