Saturday, May 4, 2013

Yangtze River Cruise: Three Gorges Dam

Tuesday, 16th April, 2013.
The Three Gorges Dam spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping.  While its primary purpose was to mitigate flooding, it is also the world's largest hydroelectric power station.  Building the dam has also increased the Yangtze River's shipping capacity.
The massive project has also set records for the number of people displaced (more than 1.3 million) and the number of cities and towns flooded (13 cities, 140 towns, 1,350 villages).  While the people displaced were given compensation, this situation is still being resolved.

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The dam is 2.3 km long, and when the water level is at its maximum of 175 metres above sea level, it is 110 metres higher than the river level downstream.
The dam became fully operational in May 2012, with the ship lift expected to be completed in 2014.
Our boat was moored somewhere near the red X.
Diagram from www.TravelChinaGuide.com


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A rather murky view of the dam.

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Looking back on the Xīlíng Yangtze River Bridge, which we have just crossed by bus on our way to the Three Gorges Dam observation deck for a bird’s-eye view of this mammoth project.

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To get to the observation deck, firstly we had to go through a rather complicated security check, then up a series of about five escalators.  You could have taken the stairs, but for some reason, everyone seemed to be taking the escalators…..
There’s our guide Ahwen in the front, and a bit behind him is Michelle in a blue top.

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Up we go!
There’s Pat, just beside the exclamation mark, in the striped shirt we bought in Shànghǎi while waiting for our luggage to arrive.

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From the observation deck, looking down on the Yangtze River, the Xīlíng Bridge and the Ship Lock, which we would pass through that night.
In the left hand lock, you can see a cruise ship like ours and another couple of boats, with more boats lined up outside, waiting to come in.
The dam itself is further down the river, to the right.

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The Ship Lock, up closer.
The lock on the left is for boats going upstream (like us) and the one on the right for boats going downstream.

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Garden between the ship locks.

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Power is distributed over multiple 500 kilovolt transmission lines.  The dam was expected to provide 10% of China's power. However, electricity demand has increased more quickly than projected, and in 2011, the plant supported only about 1.7% of the electricity demand in China.

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Another view over the Ship Locks.

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The observation deck for the Three Gorges Dam is on Tanziling Ridge, which is a kind of island which separates the ship lock from the section of the river where the dam is.  This giant sculpture of a book in the park around the observation deck gives some description of the dam and surrounding area, in English and Chinese.
The final paragraph includes the words:
“The construction of the Three Gorges Project has made the long-cherished dream of the Chinese people come true.  This great achievement is an embodiment of the wisdom and endeavours of all participants of the works and will render benefits to the future generations …….”
Interesting.

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Tanziling Ridge is decorated with large relief sculptures depicting various activities of the Chinese people to harness rivers through the course of history.  Another one of these sculptures depicted teams of “trackers” - (strong) naked men who used to haul boats upstream through narrow sections of the gorges, by ropes tied around their waists.  They were naked because their clothes were constantly wet and would chafe.

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A view across the dam from Tanziling Ridge.  In the foreground is the ship elevator, due for completion in 2014. 

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A model of the dam, looking upstream.  In the foreground is the Xiling Bridge.
On the right is the ship lock – five locks in each direction - which has been excavated through the land.
Near the entrance to the ship lock is another entrance to the incomplete ship elevator, at the right hand end of the dam.  Then, there is the dam itself.

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Our Three Gorges Dam guide (Ahwen loved calling him the “dam guide”) points to a picture of the dam on on a poster.  At the time, we were standing on the green hill just to the right of the dam.
I can’t say the sky was as blue as that the day we were there.

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Looking down from Tanziling Ridge to where the buses were parked.  The Chinese are expecting a million visitors a year to the dam.
While we were able to take the escalators up, we had to walk down.

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On the way down to the buses.  The Chinese are very good at flowers.

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Beside the dam.

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Back home to our welcoming Century Sun.

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