The World's Largest Ship Lift (113 m) | How China Lifts 3,000-Ton Ships, in 3D

The Three Gorges ship lift in China carries a 3,000-ton ship 113 meters up, like an elevator. The moving part weighs about 15,500 tons. So how do you lift that much weight so smoothly the crew barely feels it? The answer is more than 2,000 years old. We cut it open in 3D. In this video: 0:00 The world's largest ship lift 0:36 Why locks are slow, and why a giant motor won't work 1:16 Archimedes, 15,500 tons of counterweights and climbing gears 2:49 The catch: what if the water leaks out? 3:21 The lock that never lets go 4:24 The ship lift today Inside the World 3D cuts open the world's most incredible places and machines and explains how they really work. Subscribe for the next one:    / @insidetheworld3d   Photo and video credits (Wikimedia Commons): Three Gorges ship lift: risastla, CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20... Inside the Three Gorges ship lift: risastla, CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20... Three Gorges Dam: Thomas Bächinger, CC BY-SA 2.0 — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Th... Strépy-Thieu boat lift: Raimond Spekking, CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sh... Three Gorges locks: Fredlyfish4, CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Th... Three Gorges locks at night: Fredlyfish4, CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Th... Model of the Three Gorges Dam: Jpbowen, CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mo... Three Gorges Dam ship locks: Photnart, CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Th... Three Gorges Dam in 2021: Fxqf, CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Th... Video, Three Gorges Dam 2020: China News Service, CC BY 4.0 — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20... Sources: China Three Gorges Corporation: https://www.ctg.com.cn/ctgenglish/news_med... China Three Gorges Corporation: https://www.ctg.com.cn/ctgenglish/news_med... SKF Evolution, The big lift: https://evolution.skf.com/en/the-big-lift/ National Geographic: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazin... Space Group: https://www.spacegroup.no/chinas-3000-ton-... Three Gorges Dam (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Gorges... Boat lift (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boat_lift #shiplift #threegorgesdam #3Danimation