In order to serve the golden waterway of the Yangtze River and give full play to the navigation benefits,the ship lock needs to be quickly overhauled，and the time of suspension due to the ship lock overhaul needs to be shortened.Based on the analysis of the current situation of clay cofferdam in the overhaul of Gezhouba ship lock,a kind of foldable water retaining wall for shallow water area is proposed,which is applied to the overhaul of ship lock and the construction of partial dry area water retaining cofferdam.Compared with the traditional clay cofferdam,the efficiency of water storage type retaining wall is increased by 20 times,which has the characteristics of fast and simple,good water retaining effect,simultaneous water retaining and drainage function,no damage to the foundation,convenient transportation,environmental protection and recyclable utilization,etc.;it can better adapt to the needs of quick overhaul and water retaining of the ship lock,improve the efficiency and quality of the lock overhaul,improve the construction environment,and further excavate the capacity of submersible lock.