On 5 February, a 20-day repair project began on the Gezhouba Dam’s No.2 shiplock, leading to a suspension of operations. Thorough maintenance and repair work of this kind is carried out every six years, according to Xinhua News.

The timing of the suspension is problematic, according to officials at the Three Gorges Administration in charge of navigational affairs in the region. Work carried out around the Chinese New Year allows them to minimise the risk of traffic hold-ups, but the ordering and delivery of replacement parts may be subject to delays.

Major maintenance projects used to take 120 days, but this was reduced to 50 days in 2007. Twenty days of suspension this time is a record, according to officials.

Only 38km from the Three Gorges Dam, Gezhouba, with three shiplocks, was the first hydropower project on the Yangtze, boasting 21 generators with a total capacity of 2,715MW.