Author Topic: World's Largest Dam (Read 1198 times)

TheStig · « **on:** August 11, 2010, 04:50:57 AM »

Three Gorges Dam

Impounds   Yangtze River
Length      2,335 metres (7,661 ft)
Height      185 metres (607 ft)[1]
Width (at base)   115 metres (377 ft) Crest: 40 metres (131 ft)

Construction   Began December 14, 1994
Const. cost   180 billion yuan (26 billion U.S. dollars)
Maintained by   China Three Gorges Dam Project
Capacity   39.3 km3 (31,900,000 acre·ft)
Catchment area   1,000,000 km2 (390,000 sq mi)
Surface area   1,045 km2 (403 sq mi)

Power generation information

Turbines   32
capacity   22,500 MW
generation   100,000 GWh Est.

Bridge information

Carries      177[vague]
Toll      ¥10.00
ID number   7649

Geographical Data

Coordinates 30°49′48″N 111°0′36″E

The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric dam that spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping, located in the Yiling District of Yichang, in Hubei province, China. It is the world's largest electricity-generating plant of any kind.

The dam body was completed in 2006. Except for a ship lift, the originally planned components of the project were completed on October 30, 2008, when the 26th generator in the shore plant began commercial operation. Each generator has a capacity of 700 MW.

Six additional generators in the underground power plant are not expected to become fully operational until 2011. Coupling the dam's 32 main generators with 2 smaller generators (50 MW each) to power the plant itself, the total electric generating capacity of the dam will eventually reach 22.5 GW.

The project produces electricity, increases the river's shipping capacity, and reduces the potential for floods downstream by providing flood storage space. From completion through September 2009 the dam has generated 348.4 TWh of electricity, covering more than one third of its cost.

The Chinese state regards the project as a historic engineering, social and economic success, with the design of state-of-the-art large turbines, and a move toward limiting greenhouse gas emissions. However, the dam flooded archaeological and cultural sites and displaced some 1.3 million people, and is causing significant ecological changes, including an increased risk of landslides. The dam has been a controversial topic both in China and abroad.

Author Topic: World's Largest Dam (Read 1198 times)

TheStig

World's Largest Dam

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