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Why
Three Gorges Dam
is special

It is the world's largest dam - and one of mankind's greatest engineering projects.

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Three Gorges Dam
tips & insights

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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.

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Water level

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.

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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.

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Long and costly project

The Three Gorges Dam is a 15 year project (1994 to 2009) and will cost about US $30 billion.

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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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