Gezhouba Dam

The Gezhouba Dam ( Chinese长江 葛洲坝 水利 枢纽 工程, English Gezhouba Dam or Gezhouba Water Control Project) is a dam on the Yangtze River with a large hydropower plant in Yichang in central China's Hubei Province. It is located about 40 km below the famous Three Gorges Dam.

Here, after passing the Nanjin Pass, the Yangtze River widens from 300 m to about 2200 m at the dam site. Two small islands divide the river into three arms. The islands are called Gezhouba and Xiba. There are three shipping locks on the three creeks. Two are 280 m long, 34 m wide and 5 m deep and can let ships pass through up to 10,000 tons. The third lock is 120 m long, 18 m wide and 3.5 m deep.

The gravity dam and the hydroelectric power station built between the 30 December 1970 and 10 December 1988. The hydropower plant is among the largest of the Earth. It has a total capacity of 2715 MW and annual power production of 14,100 GWh.

In the middle of the dam is the spillway with 27 openings.