Presentation
-- Three Gorges Dam
(TGD) on the Yangtze
River
Alex Buchanan
Rudy Koester
Ali Elahi
Michael
Jane
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It is in the Yichang city, Hubei province in China
Brief Introduction
The Three Gores
Dam on the Yangtze
river in China will
be the largest
hydroelectric dam
in the world.
This monumental project
has been
plagued by massive
corruption
problems, spiraling costs,
technological problems, and
resettlement difficulties
I. Description
z Generating capacity of 18,200 MW from 26 generators
z 2 kilometers across
z 185 meters above Yangtze River
z Reservoir over 600 kilometers upstream
z Largest concrete structure in the world
z Over 5 times the size of Hoover Dam
z Project met much opposition
z Displaced over 1 million people
z Ruined scenery and archaeological sites
z Environmental concerns
II. Problems to be solved
Flooding
Bad for the human
1. Occur every 10 years beings there
2. Flooding disaster Difficult waterway
areas navigation
Exploitation of resources
III. History
• 1918 Sun Yat-Sen came up • 1955-1957 Yangtze drainage
area to control flooding,
• 1945 Dr. John Lucian Savage, research and design of Three
a famous American expert Gorges project started
arrived in dam--“Preliminary
Report on development Plans • 1992 “The Resolution to
of Three Gorges” Construction of Three Gorges
Project” entered into
• 1950 Changjiang Water executive process
Resource Commission founded • 01/03/1993 TGP Construction
to manage river Committee was founded
1) 04/02/Financing sources
2) 06/29/Approved regulations for
TGP relocation
IV. Process
Phase I (1993-1997) 3 steps
Phase II (1998-2003) 5 steps
Phase III (2004-2009) 2 steps
The three phases
Phase I
1. do advance work for project
2. excavation of diversion channel
3. river close-off
Phase II
1. construction of spillway
2. left-bank power house
3. ship lock
4. Initial water storage
5. commercial operation of first batch of generators
Phase III
Í
1. construction of right-bank dam
2. construction of right-bank powerhouse Construct the
power house
V. Available Alternatives
• A) Do nothing
• 1) Still flooding
• 2) Still resource
exploitation
• B) Many smaller dams
• 1) Supply less energy
• 2) Environmentally
friendly
VI. Cost of Design
• A) Initial estimate of $25 billion
• 1) Based on 1980’s prices
• 2) Didn’t include inflation
• 3) Errors in calculations ignored to ensure passage
• B) Now estimated at over $100 billion
• 1) Most expensive construction project in the history of China
• 2) Should pay for itself through electricity generation
VII. Technical Data & VIII. Non-technical Data
Technical Data Non-technical Data
A) 102.59 million cubic meters A) When completed, will be the
of stone and earth removed world’s biggest hydropower
B) Replaced with 29.33 million plant
cubic meters of stone and soil 1) Installed capacity
C) 27.15 million cubic meters of 2) Annual average power
cement mixed and poured generation volume
D) 281,000 tons of metal B) Will take 17 years to
structures erected complete
E) 354,000 tons of reinforcing C) Won’t affect navigation of
bars made and erected Yangtze river
F) 231,000 square meters of
leak-proof concrete walls built
G) 250,000 workers employed in
construction
H) 26 turbine generator sets
1) 700,000 kilowatt capacity per
unit
IX. Problems and Costs
By April 2006, 15.75 billion spent on construction
“Western estimate” between 40 and 50 billion US dollars
Endangered species
Slower water flow will increase pollution
530 millions tons of sediment entering reservoir will
influence function and
decrease life of the reservoir
Corruption
Build up of silt could results in erosion and sinking of
costal areas
X. Estimated net savings
[Link] control
[Link] generation
[Link] 100 billion kwh
of electricity generated
has earned over 3
billion
dollars
[Link]
XI. Conclusion
The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in China will be
the largest hydroelectric dam in the world. Although at first seen as
controversial, it seems as though the benefits provided by the
dam by far outweigh the costs of construction , both economically
and environmentally.
Dam model--Photos of the models that were built
to represent what the dam would look like upon
completion in 2009.
Thank you very much
• Sources
• [Link]
[Link]/eng/zt/sxgc/[Link]
• [Link]
• [Link]
[Link]/ThreeGorges/[Link]
• [Link]
• [Link]
• [Link]
