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Why the Three
Gorges Dam on the
Yangtze River is special
It is the world's largest dam - and one of mankind's greatest engineering projects.
Interesting insights
about the
Three Gorges Dam
 This dam project has three basic parts:  Dam
- It's the long white object in my illustration's upper left corner. It may look small but it measures 185
meters (610 feet) high and 2.3 kilometers (1.3 miles) wide. Its middle section is the spillway (for letting water out). The left and right ends house
massive hydroelectric turbine generators. The right end is operational, the
left one will be by 2009. Ship locks -
There are two side-by-side lock channels - the world's biggest. One handles upriver traffic, the other, downriver
traffic (both were in full operation during my visit). Each channel has five sequential locks (stages). Each
one of those locks can hold a dozen ships at a time. Shiplift -
A colossal elevator for
hoisting and lowering small ships. Operational by 2009.
When completed in 2009, the level of the water directly
behind the Three Gorges Dam will have risen 155 meters (510 feet).
The added water volume will raise the water level of the
Yangtze River as far as 600 kilometers (375 miles) upriver.
The reservoir effect not only raises
the water level, it widens the river and slows down its current. This is transforming a fast moving river into
a slow river lake.
The Three Gorges Dam is a 15 year
project (1994 to 2009) and will cost about US $30 billion.
A controversy rages. Proponents for
the dam validly argue that the dam creates needed electric power, controls floods (which saves lives), aids
irrigation and improves
navigation, among other benefits. Opponents counter that the project, for example, relocates over a
million people, inundates important sites, has environmental issues, and could be disastrous to hundreds
of millions of people who live downriver should a severe storm, earthquake or terrorist attack occur.
Nearest major city
The Three Gorges Dam is 615 kilometers (380 miles) east of Chongqing city and 670 kilometers (420 miles) west of
Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province.
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