The ship lock bulkhead gate is used for the maintenance of the working gate and lock chamber. Considering the general layout，the capacity of hoist and the reduction of civil engineering costs，weight of bulkhead gate becomes a key factor in the design of the ship lock metal structure. Due to the use of section steel，the weight of the truss-type bulkhead gate is much lower than that of the solid-web bulkhead gate of the same size. Truss-type bulkhead gates have been used in many ship locks of the Xinjiang River，the Ganjiang River and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. For high-head ship locks in mountainous rivers，there is an overlap in the application of truss-type and solid-web bulkhead gates. The finite element software is used to calculate the stress and deformation of the truss-type bulkhead gate under different water heads. Thus，the ultimate load that the truss-type bulkhead gate can withstand under a certain scale is verified，and the recommended water head range for the truss-type bulkhead gate is given.