On January 6, the Three Gorges Navigation Bureau issued the information to the media that the throughput of the Three Gorges Navigation Lock reached up to 119.6 million tons throughout 2015, increasing 300 thousand tons compared to the previous year, which hit a historical high with 110.6 million tons of cargoes and passenger ships amounting to 9 million tons.

 The officials at the Yangtze River Three Gorge Navigation Bureau said that an average of nearly 300 ships awaited lockage every day. In order to assure the efficient operation, the bureau has strengthened the management at the navigation lock, reasonably arranged maintenance for the lock, adopted GPS remote reporting system, made the ships enter the lock and move synchronously, and coordinated with the reservoir operation department to optimize adjustment and increase the practical threshold of the water at the lock, which has given a full play to the role of the Three Gorge-Gezhou Dam hydro project.

Up to now, the Three Gorges Navigation Lock has safely and efficiently operated for 12 years in a row and gained notable revenue. The amount of the cargoes passing through the lock in 2015 is 6 times as much as the annual maximum of 1.8 million tons cargoes before the Three Gorges project stored water on this river segment, which has effectively promoted the development of Yangtze River shipping and economy alongside the river. (Correspondent Zhang Yijun)