China Opens the World’s Largest Ship Elevator at Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River

China has opened the world’s largest ship elevator at the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River. The elevator can carry large ships up to 3,000 deadweight tons 113 meters straight up, and itself weighs approximately 15,500 tons. Ships passing through can now make the trip in just 40 minutes rather than the three hours it takes to navigate a series of five smaller locks.

via Mental Floss, Neatorama