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Three Gorges Dam takes the strain

By Guo Nei (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-06-06 08:53

Deadly floods are a frequent occurrence along the Yangtze, China's longest river and the world's third longest after the Nile and the Amazon.

The floods have claimed more than a million lives in the past century, with the latest flood, in 1998, responsible for about 1,000 deaths and approximately 100 billion yuan (US$12.5 billion) of damage.

At 185 metres high and 2,309 metres long the Three Gorges Dam uses 28 million cubic metres of concrete.

Launched in 1993, the 180-billion-yuan (US$22.5 billion) project to build it involves three stages.

The entire project is expected to be finished in 2008.

Designed for power generation as well as flood control, when operating at full capacity the dam's generators are expected to produce 18.2 million kilowatts of energy  up to one ninth of China's output.

Despite the advantages, environmental problems along the Three Gorges reservoir are serious.

Just to prevent garbage from piling up at the dam, China will have to spend at least 10 million yuan (US$1.3 million) annually, to ensure the safe operation of the world's largest water control project.

Statistics suggest that the garbage runoff flowing into the reservoir will amount to 100,000-200,000 cubic metres each year, most of which will accumulate in flooding seasons.