The five-stage permanent ship lock has a drop of over 60 meters.

Two preliminary tests have been done as the water storage in the reservoir completed on June 10, five days ahead of the schedule. A single ship succeeded in passing through the reservoir on June 13. On June 14, another test navigation of a shipping team was also crowned with a success.

The two pretests were both satisfying, especially in the interaction between the ship, the water and the lock, said Zhang Qingsong, director of the Yangtze River Three Gorges Navigational Bureau.

It is designed to facilitate navigation, allowing boats to travel both up and down stream, and enabling ocean-going vessels to continue inland along the Yangtze River.

The ship lock is expected to open to all ships on June 20, earlier than scheduled, as many ships are stuck near the Three Gorges Dam due to the water storage.

The ban on night navigation in the reservoir from the Three Gorges Dam to Wanzhou in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River was lifted at 8:00 am on June 13 after a lapse of 30 days. However, night navigation is still forbidden to those ships that pass the lock for the first time.

The ship lock is expected to reduce the cost of navigation along the Yangtze by over 30 percent.

This is the second of the three major tasks to be completed during the current stage of the Three Gorges Project.

And the initial generation of hydroelectricity is due to be carried out between August and October.

(People's Daily June 16, 2003)