3 gorges dam when was it built

To make way for the dam's massive reservoir, about 1. Building the Three Gorges Dam displaced more people than the three largest Chinese dams before it combined. The reservoir submerged two cities, towns and 1, villages along the river banks. Residents of Fengjie, in southwest China's Chongqing, watch the demolition of buildings in their town on November 4, , to make room for the Three Gorges Dam's resevoir.

Displaced residents have complained about inadequate compensation and a lack of farmland and jobs after relocation. Many have accused local governments of embezzling resettlement funds and using excessive force to quell protests.

In , the Chinese government acknowledged that some of the funds were embezzled or misused. Many also faced a reduction in living wages. The dam has also had a serious geological impact. Chinese officials and experts admitted at a forum in that the Three Gorges Dam had caused an array of ecological ills, including more frequent landslides, China's state news agency Xinhua reported at the time.

The water in the reservoir saturates and erodes the base of the cliffs, and the fluctuation in water levels changes the weight of the reservoir and the pressure on the slopes, destabilizing the shoreline, geologists say. Water gushes out for the first time through the Three Gorges Dam on June 11, The first disaster came in , shortly after the reservoir started to fill for the first time. As the water reached meters feet , landslides began to occur. A few weeks later, on a tributary of the Three Gorges, a large chunk of a mountain split off and slipped into the river, killing 24 people, destroying houses and capsizing over 20 boats.

The dam, which sits near two major fault lines, has also been blamed for a surge in earthquakes in the region. Scientists argue that the weight of the large reservoir and the permeation of water into the rocks underneath can trigger earthquakes in regions already under considerable tectonic stress. According to a study from the China Earthquake Administration, in the six years after the reservoir was filled in June , 3, earthquakes were recorded along the reservoir; only 94 earthquakes were recorded from January to May Another major concern is the blocking of sediments.

By cutting the flow of the Yangtze River, the dam has retained huge amounts of silt, which not only dampens its flood control capacity by filling the reservoir, but also causes significant erosion downstream. And finally, the discovery of 80 large cracks on the Three Gorges Dam's concrete face, just days after the reservoir was filled for the first time in , didn't help to alleviate concerns about the dam's safety.

Officials said at the time that the cracks were not a threat to the dam, but could cause leaking if not fixed, according to Xinhua. For those who remembered the collapse of 62 dams in Henan in , amid heavy downpours during a typhoon, it was of little comfort.

That event killed more than 26, people by the official count -- though other estimates were several times higher. This year, as the floods worsened, rumors over the Three Gorges Dam's deformation have resurfaced, drawing fierce rebuttal from state media.

But in , the Chinese government admitted the Three Gorges Dam had created a range of major problems. Changing attitudes. Beard, the Commissioner of the US Bureau of Reclamation, declared "the dam building era in the United States" to be over, at an international conference.

The mile reservoir created by the dam has flooded and destroyed at least 1, archaeological sites. Relics were moved to higher ground as quickly as they were found. Some of the historical artifacts because of the location, size, and design could not be saved. The Dam has altered the way the Three Gorges looked. It also serves as an environmental impact to the way life worked for the ecosystem of the Yangtze River. Millions of people the Chinese government has had to relocate due to the reservoir of the dam.

Entire cities have been lost, though some were already overpopulated and the cities were in horrible condition. Since the Three Gorge dam has been complete flooding has gone down but a new problem has arisen, landslides. The Three Gorge dam is one of the most amazing features in China to see. It is one of the top 10 attractions, and goes hand-in-hand with a tour down the Yangtze River. To see the dam it is best to take a cruise that will lead right to its front entrance. Some cruises or small ships will give the visitor an option to get out of the boat and tour the actual dam.

The wall is built to weather floods of a once-in-a-century severity. But some scientists have expressed concern about earthquake activity in the area, and the unlikely event of a breach could have catastrophic consequences.

Environmentalists have warned that the dam will reduce downstream nutrient and sediment flow and seriously impact neigboring river and seacoast ecosystems. A study published in the April issue of the journal Geophysical Research Letters suggests that such changes may already be underway. Researchers reported that ratios of silicon to nitrogen in brackish coastal waters fell from 1. Sediment loading was found in places to be half of pre-dam levels.

Such changes could harm plentiful coastal fishing grounds and subject tidal wetlands to increased erosion. Twenty-six turbines scheduled for operation in are designed to produce more than 18, megawatts of electricity—twenty times the power of Hoover Dam.

In that figure was thought sufficient to provide an amazing 10 percent of China's total energy needs. During years of construction, however, the nation's growing appetite for power has reduced that number to perhaps 3 percent of the current demand. Last year some 44 million tons 40 million metric tons of cargo were transported via the Three Gorges Dam.

That's up from Dam proponents stress that the dam will be a boost for Yangtze River trade, which accounts for some 80 percent of China's inland shipping. Higher water levels will allow larger vessels to ply the river, travel faster, and motor from Shanghai, at the river's estuary, all the way to Chongqing, on the Yangtze's upper reaches.

The dam has so far blocked an estimated ten million tons of plastic bags, bottles, animal corpses, trees, and other detritus that otherwise would have flowed out to sea. Engineers have created an interesting solution to prevent the trash from damaging power generators—a giant garbage-lapping "tongue. The Shanghai Daily reports that a rolling track, like a moving sidewalk, will feast on the refuse from its platform atop a garbage boat.

Engineers say that the device can consume some cubic yards cubic meters of garbage an hour. The reservoir flooded factories, mines, dumps, and other potentially toxic sites.

Volumes of human waste and industrial refuse flow into the now dammed river from communities like Chongqing, and some environmentalists warn of serious water contamination issues.

So far, the Chinese government's Yangtze River Water Resources Committee says, water qualities upstream of the dam have remained unchanged since natural water flow was stopped in Authorities tout new treatment facilities targeted at reducing the level of pollutants entering the water.

The normal water level of meters will be achieved in the year , with the reservoir covering 1, sq. The resettlement effort and the area to be inundated are unprecedented in Chinese history, with inundation affecting townships in 21 counties, cities or districts in Sichuan and Hubei provinces.

Some , people are scheduled for resettlement, with unforeseen factors most likely raising the figure to 1. The Three Gorges Reservoir will inundated 31, hectares of farmland, and will require the relocation of 1, industrial and mining enterprises, as well as power transmission and telecommunications facilities, harbors, small and medium-sized hydro-electric power plants, roads and pumping stations.

The new reservoir, typical of facilities in gorges, will not have a so-called "big-belly" section similar to other facilities built on lakes. Charm of Three Gorges to Remain The Three Gorges, one of the world's most famous scenic sites around Qutang, Wuxian and Xiling, features breathtaking scenery which attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists from at home and abroad each and every year.

The charming scenery will be left untouched following the damming of the mid-section of the Xiling Gorge. The high-water mark once the dam is completed will stand at However, the rise in the water level will have little impact on scenery in the Three Gorges which sit at an elevation of some 1, meters above sea level.

The charm of the famous landmark will remain unchanged the year when the high-water mark will rise by some meters. A spectacular waterfall formed by the steep incline of the Three Gorges dike will offer a new site expected to attract an incessant stream of tourists. Preliminary Success Scored in Three Gorges Resettlement Drive Some 90, local residents are expected to move out of the reservoir area of the Three Gorges Project by the end of this year, leading to a favorable start of the massive resettlement drive.