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A Brief History of the Three Gorges Dam Project
This massive infrastructure project is commonly referred to as China’s “100-Year Dream”. It all began with Dr. Sun Yat Sen, the founding father of modern China, in the year 1919 when he first proposed a high rise dam that could tame the wild Yangtze waters. In his lifetime there had been some catastrophic floods, and his primary concern was to prevent loss of life and damage in the sensitive, flood prone areas downstream of the 3 Gorges. While some research had been done at the time, China was just getting on its feet as a newly formed republic, and Dr. Sun Yat Sen’s proposal never gathered much steam.
In the late 1930’s, it was an American that led renewed interest in the water conservancy project. An internationally renown engineer, John Savage was commissioned by the US Bureau of Reclamation to work with Chinese officials in assessing the Yangtze resources, and discern whether or not a large scale dam would be feasible, and if so, where would be the best place to build it. He and his team of researchers surveyed 13 different locations in and around the Gorges, and surmised that a dam would indeed be possible, and that an area 34 km upstream of Yichang City would be ideal. First and foremost, it is the only place that has a solid granite base. Most of the gorges themselves are limestone, which is softer and more brittle. Second, there is a natural bend in the river, conducive for building elaborate ship locks that could bypass the concrete structure and cut through the bend. Third, there was the advantage of having a natural island in the river that could be used to create preliminary coffer dams. However, while a great amount of resources went into these studies, the project was shelved again.
Chairman Mao revived interest in the project, and in 1952 penned an often-quoted poem called “Swimming”. One stanza of the poem in particular has become a slogan of sorts, and many Chinese can recite it by heart.
“Still to come is the Western River’s wall of stone,
holding back the rains and mists of the Witches’ Gorge,
and creating placid lakes in steep ravines.
The mountain goddess, if she were alive,
Would be amazed at a world so changed”.
Under Mao, navigation on the river was improved greatly with the removal of shoals and other obstacles. The Xiling Gorge, just upstream of Yichang, was known as the notorious “Gateway to Hell” because of the rapids, whirlpools, and boulders. Numerous ships and lives were lost in this section, and it was not until Chairman Mao ordered the destruction of the major impediments that passage was made relatively safe. However, with regard to Mao’s dream of a high rise dam, it remained just that until well after his passing in 1972.
Li Peng is credited with finally spearheading efforts to finally bring the project to life in the 1980’s. Premier of China at that time, Li Peng knew a great deal about the potential benefits of the 3 Gorges Dam as he had a background in dam building and hydro-electric power production, having studied in the Soviet Union early in his career. A bill was passed to begin construction on the “3 Gorges Water Conservancy Project” in 1992, and in the following year, Li Peng presided over the ground-breaking ceremony.
last modified Sep 30, 2004 at 19:04
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