Abstract: The culvert valve of the ship lock operates frequently every day, and the working conditions are complicated. Under the action of unsteady high-speed water flow, cavitation is easily formed in the valve section, diversion port, and other parts, threatening the safety of buildings and ship navigation. Therefore, the hydraulic conditions and hydraulic safety of the ship lock valve section have attracted the attention of scholars. In the present study, a three-dimensional numerical simulation of the ship lock with an overall filling and emptying system is carried out. At the same time, in order to verify the accuracy of the numerical results, a physical model test is carried out to measure the relevant data. The maximum water head of the ship lock is 8.0 m, the length of the lock chamber is 220 m, the width is 23 m, and the threshold water depth is 4.5 m. The culvert behind the valve adopts the top expansion type. The dynamic mesh method and user-defined function（UDF） are adopted to realize the uniform opening process of the vertical-lift valve. The hydraulic parameters, such as the flow pattern, velocity, and pressure are analyzed. The numerical water level, discharge, and pressure of a typical measurement point are compared with the physical model results, and they are in good agreement, indicating the feasibility of the numerical simulation method. The numerical results show that a counter-clockwise circumfluence appeared behind the valve during the opening of the valve. With the increase in the valve opening ratio, the range of circumfluence gradually decreases, and the center of circumfluence gradually moves to the upstream and the top of the culvert. When the valve is fully opened, the water flows smoothly to the downstream. The area between the lower bottom edge of the valve and the culvert floor is the high-speed mainstream area. When the valve is opened from closed to fully opened for four minutes, the velocity is the largest when the valve opening ratio is 0.4. Meanwhile, the velocity near the wall is relatively small. The velocity, turbulent kinetic energy, and turbulent dissipation rate increase and then decrease as the valve opens, but the pressure is the opposite. The low-pressure area appears on the top of the culvert behind the valve and gradually moves upstream with the increase in the valve opening ratio. When the valve opening time is four minutes, the minimum pressure appears at top of the culvert when the valve opening ratio is 0.4, but there is no negative pressure. Under this body type and hydraulic conditions of the culvert, when the valve opening time is 5 minutes, the time-averaged pressure behind the culvert is the smallest. Numerical simulation has the advantages of rich information and economical economy in understanding the flow pattern of the ship lock valve section and is a powerful supplementary method for physical model test research.