The Three Gorges Dam

The Three Gorges Dam, located on the Yangtze River in China, is the largest hydroelectric
dam in the world. The Qutang Gorge, the Wuxia Gorge, and the Xiling Gorge are the three
Yangzi River gorges that make up the Three Gorges and hence, the name Three Gorges Dam.
The project cost $24 billion, and took thirteen years to complete, from 1993 to 2006. The
dam was constructed to generate power and control flooding, and is estimated to generate
about an eighth of China's energy. The construction of the Three Gorges Dam has a number
of positive and negative economic impacts for the Three Gorges area and for China.
The environmental impacts associated with large scale dams often have significant negative
impacts on the environment. It affects species in the area, water quality, and may increase
the likelihood of earthquakes and mudslides in the area. There are 300 species of fish in the
Yangtze River and the dam will create a barrier in the river that these species will not be
able to cross, so the population of the species will decrease. Towns and forests located in
areas that will be inundated will have to be demolished and removed in order to increase
navigability on the river. The loss of forests and agricultural lands will lead to erosion and
the build-up of sediment at the base of the river and reservoir. This could lead to increased
flooding upstream. The destruction of the villages also leads to problems of pollution. The
Yangtze River is already polluted from the shipping of coal, acid rain, and its central location
in Chinese industrial activity. Pollutants from towns and waste dumps that will be inundated
will add to this pollution. Some positive results of the Three Gorges Dam include the use of
water, a natural and renewable resource, as an energy supply. Hydroelectricity is clean since
no greenhouse gases are emitted from producing this type of energy.
A number of cultural and archaeological sites have been lost when the reservoir reaches its
full depth. The Chinese government did set aside funds to protect the sites and artefacts
that could be saved. However, due to the time constraints and shortage of capable
personnel, some of these artefacts may not have been saved or preserved correctly. The
dam also offer the positive benefit of flood control. Before construction of the dam began,
the river was maintained a ten year flood interval by modern technology. With the
construction of the Three Gorges Dam, that flood interval is increased to one-hundred
years. This means that many more lives will be saved. There have been some issues of
corruption in the procedures for relocation. Many Chinese were not given adequate
compensation for their land.
The 3 gorges dam is the heaviest concrete structure ever built weighing 144 billion tons. It
has the world’s most powerful electric power station with installed capacity for 22,500
megawatts with an annual electricity output of 84.68 billion KW/h. The dam's 32 main
generators each weigh about 6,000 tons and can produce about 700 MW of power. The
dam uses Francis Turbines. The dam's main generators have the biggest stators (motionless
middle part): about 3 meters in height. The total length of the dam axis is 2309.37 meters.
The spillway section, which is located in the middle of the river course, is 483 meters long in
total. There are 26 sets of turbine generator units in total, 700 MW for each. The ship lock is
schemed out as a double-way and five-step lock. It is the world's largest water conservancy
project with the world's largest project building scale. The ship lift can carry maximum of
3000 tons’ ship, has a maximum tonnage of 15,500 tons, and a maximum climbing height of
113 meters.
The Chinese Government has four goals for the Three Gorges Dam project: Flood control,
Power generation, Navigation and Tourism. The presence of the dam indicates less flooding
downstream and thus less negative impacts on society. Hydroelectricity is clean since no
greenhouse gases are emitted from producing this type of energy and so it is environment
friendly. With a final depth of 525 ft., larger ships can be used to transport products up and
down the Yangtze River. This increased navigability will increase the economy in the area.
Trade is estimated to increase five times in the Central China. Transportation costs are
expected to reduce by 35-37%. This enhanced navigability is furthered by the ship locks at
the Three Gorges Dam. The Three Gorges Dam resort at the world's largest hydropower
project received over 2 million tourists in 2015 which indicates that it is flourishing as a
tourist spot. While completing this assignment, the thing that I found most interesting was
the Chinese people and governments willingness to continue the project with the same
enthusiasm with which they started and make sure the project completes in due time. The
collaboration on technical levels between French, Swiss and US companies also showed the
difficulty faced while managing a project of this scale.