Three Gorges Dam Fact Sheet
Location Sandouping Village, Kiling Gorge, Yichang County, Hubei Province
Height Length Water height
Statistics World's largest dam 185 meters 1,983 meters (2 km.) 175 meters above sea level
Twin 5-stage locks, each 20 meters high Materials necessary 10.82 mil. tons cement 1.92 mil. tons rolled steel 1.6 mil. cubic meters timber 1990 Chinese estimate = US$12 billion (Current estimates approach US$75 bil)
Cost
Financing: 90% domestic sources, 10% foreign Construction period Reservoir created Land submerged 15 years
600 km. long(360 miles)
632sq.km.;including 13 cities, 140 towns, 1,352 villages, 657 factories, 30,000 hectares cultivated land 39.3 billion cubic meters
Water storage capacity
Relocated people
1.3 million
History Timeline 1919 1958 1983 1985 1989 Original proposal for flood control dam Chairman Mao proposes new plan Yangtze Valley Planning Committee completes feasibility study U.S. working group formed Canadian International Development Assoc. concludes project is technically feasible; dissident Dai Ching is jailed for editing Yangtze, Yangtze, a collection of essays that opposes the dam 1990 Premiere Li Peng revives the project U.S. Bureau of Reclamation signs contract to provide technical support Former U.S. and Canadian support withdrawn U.S. Bureau of Reclamation would not support such a project in the US, so will not support it in another country
1991 1993
Pros
Dam will provide 15% of China's electricity Severity of flooding to be reduced 90% Dam will increase river navigation capacity to 10,000 ton vessels (now only 3,000 ton vessels may enter gorges) 1008 cultural /historical sites lost Resettlement of Han people could exacerbate ethnic tensions Endangered species: 80 species of fish, Yangtze River dolphin, Chinese sturgeon, Yangtze alligator, giant Panda, Siberian White Crane, and the South China Siku Deer.
Cons