Abstract: Along with the development in construction of high dams and large reservoirs, large scale and light weight hydraulic steel gates with increasingly larger sizes, higher working heads and greater discharging capacity have been adopted in water conservancy and hydropower engineering. The safety and flexible operation of hydraulic steel gates become crucial to the security of the dams and the downstream people's life and property. This paper summarizes and discusses the developing trends and the main problems to be studied through a comprehensive analysis on the advances and achievements in the research of large hydraulic steel gates. We found out that the research focuses on the following key problems: reasonable layout of the space frame structures of large radial gates under comprehensive conditions; optimization design methods based on the reliability of space structure systems; calculation theories and methods of deep beams, thick plates and other rigid frame structures; dynamic stability and vibration control of radial gate space frames under flow induced vibrations; failure mechanism of low temperature and low cycle fatigue under cold environment; innovation in light stable bionic tree structures of hydraulic steel gates; optimization of the structures and hydraulic characteristics of super-sized steel gates for ecological landscape; life cycle safety intelligent monitoring and diagnosis of hydraulic steel gates; development and application of super steel material, glue-welding and other new technologies.