Three Gorges Dam, Hydroelectric gravity dam in Sandouping, Yichang, China
The Three Gorges Dam is a concrete gravity dam 2,309 meters long and 185 meters high across the Yangtze at Sandouping. Its face is divided into tall vertical ribs, with red gantry cranes on the crest; the ship lift and five lock chambers let vessels pass. The dam holds a reservoir 660 kilometers long at the 175-meter level.
Sun Yat-sen proposed a dam at the Three Gorges in 1919; surveys followed in the 1930s and 1940s, but construction only began on 14 December 1994. The body was finished in 2006, the power plant reached full operation in 2012, and the ship lift was completed in 2015.
The dam is rated a 5A-level tourist site, a status granted in 2007, and the dam itself has become a sight in its own right. The reservoir drowned the old towns of Wanxian (now Wanzhou) and Fuling, whose populations moved to new districts built on the surrounding slopes. The name comes from the Three Gorges of the Yangtze, of which the dam sits in the middle of Xiling Gorge, the lowest of the three.
The reservoir stretches for several hundred kilometers upstream, allowing large cargo vessels to travel far into the interior. The facility also regulates water levels and reduces flooding risks for communities downstream.
The ship lift raises vessels in a giant water chamber by more than a hundred meters, making passage through the structure much faster than through traditional locks. This technical solution is considered one of the largest of its kind in the world and attracts engineers and specialists from many countries.
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