On October 10, with the official launch of upstream and downstream cofferdam construction, the Gezhouba shipping capacity expansion project of the Three Gorges New Waterway Project has fully entered the main construction phase.
The two cofferdams will work together with bank slopes to enclose the construction area, creating the prerequisite conditions for dry-land construction of the 10,000-tonne-class new ship locks.
The Gezhouba shipping capacity expansion is located on the left bank of the Gezhouba hub. It will demolish the existing No. 3 ship lock and build two new 10,000-tonne-class ship locks on the original site, each with an effective chamber dimension of 280 meters by 40 meters by 8 meters (length by width by minimum water depth over the sill). In the future, a single 10,000-tonne vessel will be able to pass smoothly through the Gezhouba hub.
The cofferdam is the first critical hurdle in the Gezhouba shipping capacity expansion construction. It is a water-retaining enclosure structure built in the river. Simply put, a cofferdam is a water-blocking enclosure structure built in the river to cordon off the ship lock construction area. After draining the water accumulated in the foundation pit, construction workers can carry out the demolition of the old ship lock and the excavation and pouring of the new ship lock just as if they were working on land.
The downstream cofferdam, constructed by CCCC Second Harbor Engineering Company, consists of four parts: a concrete cofferdam, a steel pipe pile cofferdam, an earth-rock cofferdam, and a rock dike cofferdam, with a total length of 960.85 meters.
"The cofferdam construction area is located in the core navigable waters of the Gezhouba hub. We must seize the dry season window to ensure the cofferdam is sealed on schedule, while also coordinating various tasks such as navigation support," said Wang Xiao, deputy director of the Gezhouba Capacity Expansion Project Management Department of Three Gorges New Channel Company under China Three Gorges Corporation. The project team will strengthen full-process safety and quality control, advance cofferdam construction to high standards, and lay a solid foundation for the subsequent main construction of the ship locks.
It is reported that during the project construction period, the Gezhouba No. 2 ship lock will remain in operation, and navigation control will be implemented on relevant waterway sections in accordance with notices issued by the navigation management authorities.
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