Shipping through the Three Gorges dam on Yangze River, China's largest, was halted at 8:00 PM Monday as another flood peak approached, local transport authorities said.

The ship locks would be closed after water flow into the huge reservoir exceeded 45,000 cubic meters per second, the Three Gorges Navigation Administration said in a statement.

The flood peak could reach as much as 56,000 cubic meters per second on Tuesday, said Chen Guiya, an offical with the Yangtze River Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

Water flow into the Three Gorges Reservoir 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 Yangtze for most of 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 have been suspended twice in July with the water flow peaking at 56,000 and 48,500 cubic meters per second.

(Xinhua News Agency August 24, 2010)