This paper compares the types and hydrodynamic characteristics of navigation lock gate，summarizes the research progress in hydrodynamic characteristics of miter gate at home and abroad from aspects of physical model，prototype observation and numerical simulation，and illustrates the variation characteristics of miter gate’s operating torque.It is suggested to pay more attention to the variation law of flow pattern & flow field，and the hydrodynamic pressure during the movement of miter gates.The rich results from prototype observation of different kinds of miter gates should be integrated and analyzed synthetically.The processing of boundary condition and free surface should be handled correctly to improve the simulation precision.It is of great significance to get the quantitative understanding on the generation mechanism of resistant torque caused by water based on the qualitative analysis.