河南 喬 艷

The Goupitan ship lift in China's Guizhou Province is the largest ship lift in the world.It can lift ships with a displacement of up to 500 tons to a height of 199 meters.

Dams are characterized by a sharp change in water levels and that makes navigating large waterways a difficult task.Luckily,advanced technology makes things a lot easier,and the Goupitan ship lift is a perfect example.Completed in 2021,it consists of three different hydraulic lifts (液壓升降機(jī)) connected by navigable water channels with a total distance of 2.3 kilometers.Located on the Wu River,a tributary (支流) of the Yangtze River in Guizhou,the Goupitan ship lift is one of the world's most fascinating technological wonders.

Each of the three lifts that make up the Goupitan ship lift has a lifting capacity of 1800 tons and a lifting speed of 8 meters per minute.The Changjiang Institute of Survey,Planning,Design and Research decided to split the system into three different stages in order to maximize boat transportation efficiency by reducing the risk of congestion (擁塞).As soon as a ship gets past the first lift,another can be lifted,while the first ship continues its journey through the second and third elevators.

According to Stromag,a partner brand in the development of the world's largest ship lift,“This design provides a hoisting (起重) speed of approximately 8 meters per minute,so it can raise or descend a 500-tonne vessel (the estimated average weight of passenger boats) in 10 minutes,slashing the travel time used to pass the dam.”

Reading

Check

Can you share with your classmates the principle of the world's largest ship lift?

_________________________________________________________________________________________