Three Gorges people mentioned it once again, but after repeated discussions and investigations, it was again postponed. On March 6, 1992, a feasibility report was presented at the 5th Session of the 7th National People's Congress (NPC) for discussion and resolution. On April 3 of that year, 2,633 NPC members, one-third of the whole body, voted for the Resolution on the Development of the Three Gorges Project, and this was unprecedented in the voting history of the People's Republic of China. The Three Gorges Project officially began on December 14, 1994. The Three Gorges Dam was constructed at Sandouping (), Yichang ()
Three Gorges Dam St Lawrence Seaway, but half as deep. Before the dam was constructed, the maximum freight capacity at the Three Gorges site was 18.0 million tonnes per year. From 2004 to 2007, a total of 198 million tonnes of freight passed through the locks. The freight capacity of the river increased six times and the cost of shipping was reduced by 25%. The total capacity of the ship locks is expected to reach 100 million tonnes per year. These locks are staircase locks, whereby inner lock gate pairs serve as both the upper gate and lower gate. The gates are the