The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze, China's longest river, will likely experience another flood peak Tuesday afternoon amid heavy rain in its upper reaches.

Water flow into the huge reservoir of the dam reached 55,000 cubic meters per second at 8:20 AM, the Yangtze River Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said in a statement.

It said the dam took the edge off the fierce flow by holding back about 30,000 cubic meters of flood water per second, discharging only 25,000 cubic meters.

The water level in the dam was 152.24 meters at 8:20 AM, and 7.24 meters above the 145-meter flood alarm level, the statement said.

It said the water level might still rise when the flood peaks at around 2 p.m.

Shipping through the Three Gorges has been halted since 8:00 PM Monday.

Ship locks were closed after water flow into the reservoir exceeded 45,000 cubic meters per second.

The water flow is expected to fall to 45,000 cubic meters per second on Wednesday and 35,000 cubic meters per second on Thursday.

Torrential rains have battered the upper reaches of the Yangtze last week, with rainfall in the catchment of the Mintuo River, a Yangtze tributary, amounting to more than 100 millimeters.

Due to heavy rains this summer, ship services through the Three Gorges dam were suspended twice in July with the water flow peaking at 56,000 and 48,500 cubic meters per second respectively.

(Xinhua News Agency August 24, 2010)