Global quality assessment of rock works for permanent shiplock of the Three Gorges Project on Yangtze River, China

This paper presents a global assessment of the quality of the engineering works associated with rock excavation for the construction of the permanent shiplock of the Three Gorges Project (TGP). The shiplock was constructed between 1995 and 1999 by open and deep excavation in a mountain comprising weathered and fresh granite. Since the shiplock is the main navigation structure for ships to pass through the Three Gorges Dam after the dam is completed, it is prudent to summarize the experience and information obtained during the design and construction of the engineering works associated with rock excavation. This paper adopts the meta-synthesis theory (MST) to quantitatively assess the global quality of such engineering works in rocks. The paper presents a detailed discussion along with summative data on the rock conditions, the engineering measures and the monitored performance for this quality assessment. The assessment results show that the global quality of the rock engineering works in rocks can be rated as very good and that the rock excavation and stabilization measures can basically meet the high design standards and requirements of the permanent shiplock.