WUHAN, July 1 -- The total cargo throughput via the ship locks at the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydropower project, hit a new record in the first half of this year, the Three Gorges Navigation Authority said Saturday.

From January to June, the project's total throughput exceeded 84.15 million tonnes, an increase of 9.32 percent from the same period last year.

During this period, the Three Gorges ship locks operated 5,469 times, facilitating the passage of 21,132 vessels. The throughput reached 81.58 million tonnes, marking a growth of 9.96 percent compared to the same period last year.

The Three Gorges ship elevator operated 2,206 times, allowing 2,232 vessels to pass through, with a total throughput of 2.57 million tonnes in the same period.

The Three Gorges project is a multi-functional water-control system, consisting of a 2,309-meter-long and 185-meter-high dam, five-tier ship locks on the north and south sides, and 34 turbo-generators with a combined generating capacity of 22.5 million kilowatts.

Since the Three Gorges locks opened to trial navigation in June 2003, the volume of freight passing through them has increased rapidly.