Three Gorges Dam

After the Three Gorges Dam Project was completed, the water level among the famous lesser gorges was increased by approximately 137m. This increase in water height had robbed this area of it's once hauntingly beautiful mist shrouded peaks and while it is still pretty, it has lost a little mystery...




As a result of the dam project, all of the farmers, villages, and industries which originally sat on the banks of the historical region had to be relocated. This means only the highest areas are still historical and everything else is new. The government of China gave many farmers homes to live in for their whole families in the new relocation cities - however, many of the farmers, now without land or very little land, can not afford to decorate or live in the full size of their homes and therefore many entire floors of buildings are vacant and closed off... almost a eerie reminder of how this progress negatively impacted so many.

Relocation Village, Some are empty shells..

Larger Relocation City - one of the main ones within the Three Gorges area

The dam project was very good for others though, its 'primary' goal was to control the seasonal flooding which could be extreme and destroyed property year after year.. and has claimed the lives of over a million people since known records. The second reason was for power generation - and it is the world's largest hydro-electrical project.. scary fact though is that all of the power generated here is only about 3% of China's total usage.

The second unpublished purpose proposed was the first step to control the water - which had people in Thailand, Taiwan, Laos etc. all VERY concerned as much of their fresh water flows down from China in one river or another... China is planning over a dozen new dams to be put in along key water sources within the next 15 years.

That being said, the dam is the "biggest" in the world only in terms of the amount of concrete used... other than that it isn't the tallest or the widest.. and it would have been more impressive minus that we all considered to be the perma"mist" found throughout China...

Elaine, Terry, and I heading up the escalators to the top viewing area of the dam project

The area in which the dam was built was largely a granite section of the mountain pass and therefore they removed hundreds of tons of granite when making the various areas for the project. And they have a lovely (if misty) viewing area where you can not only see a bit of the dam but also the five stage ship locks which are parallel (one for upstream and one for downstream traffic). The ship locks are free for all boats but take anywhere from about 3 to 6 hours to move through depending on traffic.

The picture above isn't the best, but there was a Chinese lady taking into a mic which was scratchy and ENTIRELY too loud for the small room this model was housed in. We actually plugged out ears and looked for the nearest exit (which, shockingly enough, was though the gift shop... LOL). The model shows the dam on the right hand side (large reservoir looking over the tall building) and then the two ship locks on the far left of the screen. The extras between are some gardens and the guest viewing areas.

View from the top of the "touristy viewing area"

First stage of the ship locks - orange things are safety locks in case of emergency

Looking down the second lock towards the third lock. Each lock takes 12 minutes to equalize one way

Picture of the back of the dam (reservoir side)

The only part of the dam project which is still under construction is the 'ship elevator' which is exactly like it sounds. It will be for ships under a total weight of 3,000 tons will be able to use the elevator (designed to take 17 minutes total) instead of the hours it currently takes to go through the five stages of the locks. This part has been delayed since the first two designs proved to be unable to bear the weight of 3,000 ton of ship plus the necessary water. They now have a newer new design and are working on it slowly. The local guide couldn't say when it was scheduled to be opened.

Opening Soon? Maybe?