The Yangtze River Dam Project

By the time the project was finally completed in 2009, water levels had been raised by almost the 175 meters (575 feet) expected target and over one million people in 116 towns had been resettled.

It took 17 years to build. The structure created the world's largest reservoir, and it is a monumental achievement measuring 2 kilometers wide and 185 meters high, a very impressive sight.

Benefits will be mainly in

• flood control

• power generation and

• navigation improvement

The project is composed of: the Dam two power plants the navigation facilities

The Three Gorges Dam is the top producer of hydroelectricity in the world. The Dam structure was completed in 2006. The Power Plants have a total of 26 generators already on operation. There are six more generators under construction in the underground power plant, which are scheduled for completion in 2011 and will bring the total number of generators to 32. All combined will have a power generating capacity of 22,500 Megawatts. To give you an idea of the magnitude of this proyect, the Hoover Dam, in comparison, has a capacity of 1,345 megawatts.

The navigation structures consist of the permanent Ship Locks and a Shiplift, sort of an elevator for boats 3,000 tons or less, still under construction.

The Ship Locks consist of five steps and go both ways. We entered the locks at the end of the second day of our cruise. The kids thought it was so cool, like riding on Starship Enterprise... how the water level dropped, the opening of the gates and passing to the next chamber...

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The next day we visited the Three Gorges Dam project. From the observation platforms, you get a nice view of the entire complex: the ship elevator, power plant and locks.

Also, there is a model that shows the entire thing and it's perfect to explain the kids how our boat "climbed down the stairs" to get to the other side.

...more Yangtze River pictures

You can follow the course of the cruise in this Map of the Yangtze River as we started downstream from Chongqing to Yichang.

Return from Yangtze River Dam to Yangtze River

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