The Three Gorges Dam: Engineering Marvel Powering China's Future

June 14, 2024

China stands as one of the largest and fastest-growing economies in the world, fueled by its accelerating industrial needs. A cornerstone of this growth is the monumental Three Gorges Dam, which spans the mighty Yangtze River. Stretching over 2 kilometers long and soaring sixty stories high, this engineering marvel has taken 40,000 workers 17 years to complete.

Image credits: Stephen Wilkes

As the largest hydroelectric project in the world, the Three Gorges Dam boasts a staggering power generation capacity of over 20,000 megawatts—twice that of all nuclear power stations combined. This impressive feat of engineering provides clean and affordable electricity to millions, marking a significant step towards sustainable energy solutions.

Before starting to build, the Chinese first went to divert the Yangtze River which almost 2 km wide and move over a million people from the daily robotic club. And when they filled the rest of the dam, a huge mass of water actually slowed down the speed of the extra stations by fraction.

Constructed using 28 million cubic meters of concrete, the dam's construction began with a massive diversion of the Yangtze River, which is nearly 2 kilometers wide. This endeavor required relocating over a million residents from the surrounding areas. Once the river was redirected, the dam's structure was built to withstand the immense pressure of the water it would hold back.

The dam features three powerhouses, each measuring 700 meters in length, housing a total of fourteen large turbine generators. Each generator costs approximately $50 million, underscoring the project's scale and significance. Remarkably, just one of these turbines can produce as much electricity as a small nuclear power plant, and collectively, all thirty-two generators can supply power to sixteen million people..

The Yangtze River, stretching over 6,000 kilometers and reaching several kilometers in width at certain points, presented enormous logistical challenges for engineers. To facilitate construction, over a million people were relocated from the land behind the dam.

The engineering process began with constructing a series of stone barriers to partially block the river while maintaining a flow path. The first two sections of the main dam were built in the riverbed, followed by tons of earth being dumped into the river and topped with concrete to form a secure barrier. With the river contained, engineers could complete the final section of the dam before removing temporary barriers to allow water to flow through the turbines.  

At its base, the dam can hold back approximately 22 billion cubic meters of water during flood periods, releasing controlled amounts through a system of 46 sluice gates. The Three Gorges Dam stands as a testament to human ingenuity and ambition, shaping China’s energy landscape and setting a benchmark for future infrastructure projects worldwide.