【明報專訊】On 8 November 1997 a barrier was thrown across the Yangtze river (長江), completing the first stage of the Three Gorges Dam project (三峽大壩工程). Now operating at full capacity, the dam has nevertheless come about at an enormous environmental and human cost.
1. The background
A large dam across the Yangtze River was first envisioned by Sun Yat-sen (孫中山) in his writing published in the late 1910s.
After the proclamation of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the subject was repeatedly mentioned by the leadership. When he visited the Three Gorges in 1953, Chinese leader Mao Zedong (毛澤東) said that the project was not only feasible but also necessary.
But not until April 1992 did the National People's Congress (全國人民代表大會) gave the green light to the project. It officially commenced in December 1994.
2. The construction
The construction work was carried out in three phases. In the first phase, workers put a barrier across the Yangtze River, which they did on 8 November 1997. The second phase began in 1998 and ended in 2003. During the six years the cofferdam (圍堰), the locks (船閘) and the hydroelectric plant were constructed. In the third phase (2003-2009), all machinery was installed, and the construction of the power station and the dam on the right bank were finished.
The gigantic dam, located in Yichang (宜昌市) and stretching more than 2 kilometres, was completed in 2006. The last of its 32 hydroelectric generators went into operation in July 2012, and it has since reached operating peak, bringing its combined generating capacity to 22.5 megawatts. This amounted to 11% of China's total hydropower capacity. A massive lake 600 kilometres long was also created.
3. The benefits
The Three Gorges Dam project has brought tremendous benefits to China. Its vast lake, capable of storing 39.3 billion cubic metres of water, marks the Chinese people's major triumph over the Yangtze River, which has over the past years repeatedly burst its banks and caused innumerable deaths.
The dam produces vast amounts of electricity, significantly reducing China's need for fossil fuels. The Three Gorges project features an artificial navigation channel, which allows vessels from Shanghai (上海) and Wuhan (武漢) to reach Chongqing (重慶) and the upper Yangtze. It was much harder to travel upstream along the Yangtze River before.
4. The drawbacks
The gigantic lake has submerged (淹埋) many cities, towns and villages. These include a temple dedicated to Zhang Fei (張飛), a famous general in the early Three Kingdoms period (三國時代); Fengdu County (豐都縣), which was known as the "Ghost City"; and Baidicheng (白帝城) in Fengjie County (奉節縣). Furthermore, more than a million people were displaced (遷移) when the project was underway.
Moreover, fluctuations in the water level of the vast reservoir cause frequent landslides, and experts think that the dam has made earthquakes likelier.
