Three Gorges Dam The World’s Largest Hydro-Power Project Dam From Space

What is the Three Gorges Dam? Underwent construction in 1994 to be the largest electric dam in the world, five times the size of the U.S Hoover dam. 607 ft high and 1.4 miles long -- creates a reservoir hundreds of feet deep and nearly 400 miles long. Located between the Chinese cities of Yichang, Chongqing, Fuling and the Hubei province. It spans the Yangtze River, which is the third longest river in the world. The Three Gorges Dam is currently still in construction and is predicted to be finished by 2009.

What is the Three Gorges Dam? Started to help the areas around it through flood control and to provide renewable energy. The building of the dam has displaced over 1.9 million people. Environmentalists claim that the construction of the dam contributed to the extinction of some wildlife and the loss of many scenic and important archeological sites.

History of the Dam Originally proposed in 1919 by Sun Yat-sen, a leader of the modern China Republic because he thought it would be a good source of power generation. Between 1919 and 1989 there was a lot of debate around the issue of whether to build the dam or not. There were many technical problems and the idea was thought to be too costly by many critics. The majority of the population was also against the dam. In 1979, China’s major economic reforms and need for electrical power had grown so the State Council approved construction of the dam. Because of growing opposition and fear of high costs there were many critics of the dam construction.

History of the Dam By 1989 surveys showed that the whole country was against the building of the dam so the State Council suspended construction plans for five years. After the Tiananmen Square protests of the same year the Government no longer saw the need to listen to its citizens and it forbade public opposition of the dam and imprisoned many famed critics of the dam. In 1989 the government no longer listened to its citizens and forbade public opposition of the dam. In April 1992 the dam was pushed through the National People’s Congress even though 1/3 was completely against it. By 1994 the government was soliciting funds, services and hardware and had reserved construction contracts from Chinese firms. The dam building had begun.

Benefits/Advantages of the Dam Hydropower -The Three Gorges projects is expected to become an important future source of energy for China. (Over 80% of China’s electricity is powered by coal)  The dam's hydropower turbines will produce as much electricity as 18 nuclear power plants.  In the long run, the dam may decrease the yearly coal consumption by million tons, which will prevent 2 million tons of sulfur dioxide and 10,000 tons of carbon monoxide from being released each year. When finished, the dam will mollify the floods on the Yangtze River, which have killed more than a million people in the last century. The engineers say that the reservoir will allow 10,000- ton ocean-going freighters to sail into China, which will increase the import of products and open up China’s underdeveloped parts.

Opposition/Disadvantages Officials said plan costs $25 billion but some say that the project costs more than any other construction project in China. Critics say dam is only useful to industrialists on the east coast because they need the most hydropower. About 1.3 million people have been relocated for the dam and its reservoir. Many others are being displaced from their land and have not been relocated or compensated. The authority is also not giving them the right to be heard. The predicted amount of power was initially going to generate about 10% of China’s power, but now some say it will supply only 3%. The formation of large reservoirs can generate large amounts of greenhouse gases, specifically methane.

Opposition/Disadvantages Large reservoirs can help certain habitats, but can also hurt many ecosystems.  The dam will cause the almost extinct Chinese Paddlefish to suffer and will harm their habitat.  The Siberian Crane will be threatened, seeing that 95% of the remaining 3-4,000 will be killed by the dam.  The Chinese River Dolphin became extinct in December 2006 due mostly to the dam. The reservoir will flood many archaeological sites and will lessen the beauty of the Three Gorges. Critics say that the Yangtze will add 530 million tons of silt into the reservoir annually, which will stop it from preventing floods. The dam lies on a seismic fault, and the weight of it might cause seismic waves. Poor construction has caused several accidental disasters.

The Future of the Dam The structure of the dam is complete, but will not operate until The last several generators will soon be installed, and “work still needs to be done on the ship lift that will allow ocean-going vessels to navigate the vast reservoir that is filling up behind the dam.”

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