Have you ever wondered how ships cross sudden extreme differences in water heights on either side of a dam? This has been one of the problems of the 600-foot Three Gorges Dam in Yichang City, central China’s Hubei Province. Thankfully, the world’s largest elevator which is capable of lifting 6.7 million pounds of boat and water, was built and now operates smoothly.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-9HFzjXDtY]
World’s Largest Elevator (Source: YouTube, CCTV+)
The elevator itself weighs around 15,500 tons and is designed to lift ships and freighters over 370 feet. The gigantic elevator is expected to increase the shipping capacity of the dam by six million tons of goods per year.
Some time ago, ships took three hours to navigate and get through the dam. With this elevator, the navigation time was decreased to just 40 minutes! Forty minutes may still seem like a long time in an elevator, but it’s definitely a big leap from 3 hours.
