After more than two years’ construction, the main part of the Longzhouyuan ship lock, which is part of the Water Transfer Project from Yangtze River to Hanjiang River, has been completed recently. The smooth progressing of this key project will lay solid foundation for the whole project’s being put into use before the flood season next year.　　
Standing on a newly built bridge which is part of the Yangtze-to-Han Water Diversion and Navigation Project, the reporter saw ships coming and going on the Yangtze River to her south, to which is connected the starting point , i.e. the intake, of the navigation project. Now revetments are being constructed for the entrance sections. A few kilometers in north is the entrance ship lock of the navigation project, the Longzhouyuan ship lock in construction. So far four gates of the upper and lower lock heads have been installed. According to a director of the project, nearly 80% of the Longzhouyuan ship lock project has been completed. 　
Since the groundwater level is relatively high along the project line, the construction is affected to some extent.　　
Because of the hot weather these days, the project department adjusted the working time, which now is 6:30-10:30 a.m. and 16:00-19:30 p.m. To ensure the quality of construction, the project department transferred concrete pouring time to the evening. To prevent workers from suffering heatstroke and other illnesses, the project department also provided heatstroke-preventing items like Rendan mini-pills and10 drops, a popular medicine for summer ailments, etc. 
The annual throughput capacity designed for the Longzhouyuan ship lock is more than 9.2 million tons and the largest ship it allows to carry weighs about 1000 tons. Calculated by the daily throughput capacity, this ship lock can carry at least 25 1000-ton ships per day. When the project is open to navigation, it will connect the Yangtze River with the Han River, and it can shorten the waterway distance between the two rivers’ middle reaches by over 600kms, which can greatly lower shipping costs. At the end of this year, the Water Transfer Project from Yangtze River to Hanjiang River and the South-to-North Water Diversion Middle Route Project will be completed around the same time, which will be put into use before the flood season next year.