Three Gorges Dam

Three Gorges Dam, 607 ft (185 m) high and 7,575 ft (2,309 m) long, on the Chang (Yangtze) River, central Hubei prov., China, 30 mi (48 km) W of Yichang. The largest concrete structure in the world, the dam was constructed from 1994 to 2006. Its hydroelectric station, which will not be fully operational until 2006, will have 26 turbines that will generate 18,200 MW, making it the largest in the world. In 2003 sluice gates were closed to begin flooding the scenic gorges for which the dam was named and filling a reservoir that will be 410 mi (660 km) long and will hold as much water as Lake Superior. Some 1.4 million people have been moved in the process of creating the dam and reservoir.

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Three Gorges Dam

Dam spanning China's Yangtze River (Chang Jiang). Construction began in 1993, and on its completion in 2006 it was the largest hydroelectric dam in the world, reaching a height of 607 ft (185 m) and stretching 1.4 mi (2.3 km) across the Yangtze. When fully operational, it will have the capacity to produce a vast quantity of hydroelectricity from 26 generators and will create an immense deepwater reservoir that will allow 10,000-ton freighters to navigate 1,400 mi (2,250 km) inland from the East China Sea. The controversial project displaced more than a million people and inundated magnificent scenery and some archaeological sites.