The Three Gorges Dam has a giant water elevator that lifts 3,000-ton ships over 100 meters into the air.

The Three Gorges Dam ship lift in China is the largest of its kind in the world. It uses a giant chamber called a basin that is 120 meters long and 18 meters wide. This basin is filled with water, and thanks to a rule called Archimedes' principle, the weight stays the same whether a ship is inside it or not. This is because a floating ship pushes out exactly its own weight in water.To move this massive weight, engineers used a clever counterweight system. Heavy blocks balance the basin, so it takes much less energy to move it up and down. The whole thing is held by steel cables and guided by four huge concrete towers that are 169 meters tall. A precise gear system keeps the basin perfectly level so the water doesn't spill out during the trip.Before this lift opened in 2016, ships had to use a series of five locks, which are like water stairs. That process took up to four hours to complete. Now, the elevator can move a 3,000-ton ship in about 40 minutes. If anything goes wrong, the system has giant safety screws that can lock the elevator in place instantly. This amazing machine was built by both Chinese and German engineers to help traffic move faster on the Yangtze River.