Three Gorges Dam
The mammoth Three Gorges Dam project is located at Sandouping, Yichang City of Hubei Province. As the modern China's most ambitious construction, and one of the most controversial in the world, it took a steady and firm step to its completion from 1994, finally to 2006. The estimated investment of Three Gorges Dam is about US$300 billion.
More than 1 million people have been relocated in other parts of the country due to the construction of Three Gorges Dam. China's engineers have erected a permanent wall, nearly 600-feet high (181m), to harness the Yangtze River, the world's third-longest river, and provide a huge source of hydropower for the world's most populous nation. After the dam is complete, it is capable of pumping out 18,200 megawatts of electricity from 26 generators, each equal to a medium-sized nuclear reactor. The Three Gorges Dam has now become one major excursion site of all the Yangtze River cruises.
China Three Gorges Dam Facts
What is the Three Gorges Dam in China
As for China's Three Gorges Dam definition, in simple terms, it integrates functions such as flood control, power generation, shipping, and water resource utilization. It is the main project of the Three Gorges Hydropower Station (i.e., the Three Gorges Water Conservancy Hub Project of the Yangtze River) and is also one of the largest water conservancy hub constructions in the world today.
The Three Gorges Dam is mainly composed of the main dam body for water storage and flood discharge, power generation buildings, navigation buildings, etc. To be specific, It includes a concrete gravity dam, a flood discharge gate, a downstream-type hydropower station, a permanent five-level ship lock for navigation and a ship lift.
The Three Gorges Dam has also improved the shipping conditions of the Yangtze River, increasing the annual one-way navigable capacity of the Yangtze River from 10 million tons to 50 million tons, and reducing the transportation cost by 35% - 37%. As of May 21, 2024, the freight volume at the Three Gorges Hub reached 208.1 million tons.
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Where is the Three Gorges Dam
Approximately 40 kilometers from the center of Yichang City, the Three Gorges Dam is situated on the Xiling Gorge section of the Yangtze River, at the eastern end of the Three Gorges Reservoir, controlling a watershed area of approximately 1 million square kilometers. Its specific coordinates are 30°49′ north latitude and 111°00′ east longitude.
Why and When Was the Three Gorges Dam Built
The idea of the Three Gorges Dam did not come about overnight. As early as 1919, during the Republic of China era, Sun Yat-sen proposed in his "Industrial Plan" the idea of building dams and generating electricity in the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River. In the 1950s, frequent floods in the Yangtze River Basin, especially the massive flood in 1954 that claimed tens of thousands of lives, made flood control an urgent need. At the same time, as China's industrialization began, the problem of power shortage became increasingly prominent, and the potential of hydropower in the Yangtze River was highly anticipated.
After decades of research and discussion, in 1984, after review and approval by 16 ministries and commissions of the Chinese State Council, the three provinces of Hubei, Hunan and Sichuan, as well as 58 scientific research construction units and 11 universities, the Three Gorges project with a reservoir level of 150 meters was approved. The construction of the Three Gorge Dam project entered the stage of construction preparation. In 1992, the National People's Congress officially passed the resolution on the Three Gorges Project, deciding to build the Three Gorges Dam with a height of 185 meters, although nearly one-third of the representatives opposed or abstained.
During the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, over 1.3 million residents from more than 1,500 towns and villages were forced to leave their homes. The Three Gorges migrants moved to new resettlement areas and began a new life. Unfortunately, over 1,300 archaeological sites were submerged, although some precious artifacts were salvaged. As a result, the Three Gorges Project also faced criticism from the international community at that time.
The main structure of the dam was completed in 2006 and it was fully put into operation in 2009. 27.2 million cubic meters of concrete were poured to build a 181-meter-high and 2,335-meter-long concrete gravity dam, and 46.3 thousand tons of steel formed a solid framework. The entire project cost approximately 200 billion yuan, which was about 30 billion US dollars at the exchange rate at that time.
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The Three Gorges Dam Construction and Design for Flooding Control
The Three Gorges Dam was designed to handle a flood flow of 98,800 cubic meters per second, which is equivalent to a once-in-a-thousand-year flood. The corresponding water-blocking level is 175 meters. The verification design takes into account a once-in-a-millennium flood with an increased 10% flow rate of 124,300 cubic meters per second, and the corresponding water-blocking level is 180.4 meters.
The spillway section is located in the middle of the riverbed. The spillway facilities include deep holes and surface holes. The total length of the spillway section at the front edge is 483 meters, divided into 23 sections. Each section has a deep hole with a width of 7 meters and a height of 9 meters in the middle, and the bottom elevation of the inlet is 90.0 meters. Between the two sections, 8-meter-wide surface holes are arranged across the joint, with the top elevation of the overflow weir being 158 meters.
To meet the requirements of construction diversion and blocking, 22 diversion bottom holes are arranged across the joint directly below the surface holes. The outlet width is 6.0 meters and the height is 8.5 meters. The 16 holes in the middle have an inlet bottom elevation of 56 meters, and the inlet bottom elevations of the 3 holes on each side are 57 meters.
On both sides of the spillway section of the Three Gorges Dam, as well as the powerhouse section and the powerhouse section behind the dam, a total of 26 power station intake pressure pipelines are arranged. The intake is located on the upstream side of the dam, with an inlet bottom elevation of 108.0 meters and a diameter of 12.4 meters. Seven circular sand discharge holes with a diameter of 4.5 meters are arranged at the lower part, with the inlet bottom elevation being 70 meters and 90 meters.
At the joint between the spillway section and the powerhouse sections on both sides, the abutment section of the guide wall (which also serves as a longitudinal cofferdam) on the right side arranges one discharge drift hole. The hole width is 10 meters and the height is 12 meters, with the inlet bottom elevation being 133.0 meters. The second powerhouse section on the right bank is equipped with one discharge drift hole, with a width of 7 meters and a height of 10 meters, and the inlet bottom elevation is 130 meters.
The non-overflow sections on both banks and the powerhouse sections connect. On the left non-overflow section, the Three Gorge Dam ship lift upper gatehead and the temporary ship lock section are arranged. The temporary ship lock section consists of 2 sand discharge gates (with an inlet bottom elevation of 102 meters, an outlet width of 5.5 meters, and a height of 9.6 meters).
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Power Station Construction
The power station construction of the Three Gorges Dam consists of a dam-back power station, an underground power station and a power supply power station. The dam-back power station is equipped with 26 70-megawatt hydroelectric generating units, with a total installed capacity of 18.2 million kilowatts. The underground power station is equipped with 6 70-megawatt hydroelectric generating units, with a total installed capacity of 4.2 million kilowatts. The power supply power station is equipped with 2 5-megawatt hydroelectric generating units, with a total installed capacity of 1 million kilowatts. And, the total installed capacity of the power station is 22.5 million kilowatts, with an average power generation of 88.2 billion kilowatt-hours.
Shipping Infrastructure
The ship passage infrastructure of the Three Gorges Dam consists of a ship lock and a vertical lift canal. The ship lock is a double-line, five-level continuous ship lock, with a total length of the main structure segment being 1,621 meters. The effective size of a single lock chamber is 280 meters in length, 34 meters in width, and the minimum water depth above the sill is 5 meters. The annual one-way designed throughput capacity is 50 million tons. The maximum Three Gorges Dam shiplift height is 113 meters, and the effective size of the carrying boat chamber is 120 meters in length, 18 meters in width, and 3.5 meters in water depth. The maximum ship passage scale is 3,000-ton class.
Three gorges Dam Before and After: Pros and Cons
Pros
There are many benefits of the Three Gorges Dam. Before its construction, frequent floods happened on Yangtze River caused countless casualties and property losses. After its construction, it can withstand huge floods, such as the 75,000 m³/s flood peak successfully managed in 2020. Cumulative flood damage losses have been reduced by over 300 billion yuan.
The Three Gorges Dam advantages also include the increased throughput of the Three Gorges Ship Lock, which rose from 34.31 million tons in 2004 to 156 million tons in 2023. The “bypass transportation” system handles 50 million tons of cargo annually, while the Three Gorges Dam ship lift enables 3,000-ton vessels to pass through the dam in an “elevator-like” manner. Additionally, the 34 units have a total installed capacity of 22.5 million kilowatts, making it the world's largest.
Cons
The ecological environment of the Yangtze River basin has been impacted. Official data announced in 2022 revealed that the Chinese paddlefish faces functional extinction. Additionally, seasonal algal blooms have appeared in some sections of tributaries, and heavy metal sediment monitoring shows a slight increase in cadmium levels. From a social perspective, approximately 56,000 Three Gorges migrants face secondary relocation. 217 intangible cultural heritage sites require urgent protection.
How to get to Three gorges Dam
From Yichang City, take Bus No. 4, No. 100, No. 10, No. 21, No. 34 or No. 101 to the "Night Pearl" stop. Walk about 100 meters to the No. 8 bus stop, then transfer to the tourist special bus to directly reach the Three Gorges Dam.
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Travel Tips
FAQ about Three Gorges Dam
What is the Three gorges Dam vs Hoover Dam size comparison?
In terms of size, the height of the Three Gorges Dam is 181 meters and its length is 2,335 meters. The height of the Hoover Dam is 221 meters and its length is 379 meters. In terms of storage capacity, the Three Gorges Dam has a capacity of 39.3 billion cubic meters, while the Hoover Dam has a capacity of 34.8 billion cubic meters. In terms of power generation, the Three Gorges Dam generates 100 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, while the Hoover Dam generates 4 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year.
Will typhoon rainfall threaten the Three Gorges Dam?
The storage capacity is 22.15 billion cubic meters and the flood control capacity can regulate the water volume in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River to cope with the rainfall brought by typhoons. However, the scenic spots may be temporarily closed, for example, during the "Dujuan" typhoon in 2023, the Three Gorges Dam scenic area was closed for 2 days. When the wind speed exceeds 7 levels, shipping may be temporarily suspended.
Did the Three Gorges Dam in china break/collapse?
No. Furthermore, with the deployment of over 12,000 sensors, real-time monitoring is carried out, and the 10-minute early warning system covers 138 counties and cities downstream.
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