13Facts about the giant Chinese dam that slowed the Earth's rotation
What do you know about the Three Gorges Dam or the Three Gorges Dam? You may have seen it on one of your travels or maybe there is a dam near your town.
Dams are amazing man-made feats of engineering and supply electric power to the surrounding areas.
But at the same time, these dams are considered the subject of important national, regional and international debate. Despite their many benefits, they have some negative points, such as the Three Gorges Dam, which is considered one of the largest dams in the world to the point that it contributes to slowing down the Earth's rotation!
Some who have no experience in engineering matters may think that the dam is nothing but a giant barrier built over rivers and streams, restricting the flow of water and preventing them from using water for irrigation and contributing to the generation of hydroelectric power.
If you want to increase your knowledge and hear the story of the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, you are in luck! We have collected thirteen amazing facts about the giant Three Gorges Dam that will help you decide where you stand on the construction of this dam:
1. Building the dam from Sun Yat-Sen’s idea:
Sun Yat-sen in a portrait from the first decade of the twentieth century.
Image: Wikipedia
The philosopher, political leader, and revolutionary (Sun Yat-Sen), who is considered the father of modern China, proposed the idea of constructing the Three Gorges Age since early 1919. After he overthrew the Chinese Manchu Dynasty in 1922, (Sun Yat-Sen) ignited the revolution that laid the foundations for building the Chinese Republic.
In an article titled “A Plan for Industry Development,” Sun Yat-Sen proposed the idea of building a dam to control the flooding of the Yangtze River, as it would represent “the new Chinese power.” After a period of time, the project entered into force.
2. This dam is very big:
Aerial photo showing the extension of the dam.
Some claim that the Three Gorges Dam can be seen from space, but this is not true, but this does not negate the magnitude of this project! The massive dam is built of steel and concrete and is 7,666 feet long and nearly 600 feet high.
Engineers needed about 510 thousand tons of steel to build this huge dam, meaning that this amount is enough to build sixty towers like the Eiffel Tower!
3. The three benefits offered by this dam:
Despite the negative points and the great wave of criticism towards this huge dam, its construction may be considered a useful and positive matter. The Three Gorges Dam was built for three main purposes: flood control, hydroelectric power generation, and improvement of navigation.
4. This dam is power-hungry:
Aerial photo of the dam. Image: Reuters
To generate energy, this dam needs a huge infrastructure, as it provides electric power to millions of people, as the amount of energy it produces is equivalent to the energy generated by 34 huge power plants, which is equivalent to the amount of energy resulting from burning 25 million tons of crude oil or 50 million tons. of coal.
5. The Three Gorges Project took decades to become a reality.
The idea of building a huge gorge dam on the Yangtze River did not seem feasible to everyone who tried to implement this project. After Sun Yat Sim proposed constructing the dam in 1919, no one discussed his proposal until 1944-1946.
The Chinese Republic signed a contract with the American Reclamation Office in 1946 to design the dam, but work on this project was halted due to the outbreak of the Chinese Civil War after the end of World War II. The social conditions that the Chinese Republic was suffering from during that period.
On December 14, 1994, work on the construction of this project officially began and ended by 2009, and there are still many modifications being made to the dam until this moment.
6. The construction of the dam has been postponed three times:
Since the start of work on the implementation of the Three Gorges Dam project in 1994, it has been postponed three times due to some problems, as its construction was supposed to be completed in 2008, but the high costs, environmental concern, Chinese political corruption, and resettlement issues caused work on the project to stop several times, which was reflected negatively on the local population.
7. Water pollution
Pollution can be seen in the water in this image
One of the biggest controversies surrounding the Three Gorges Dam is the amount of damage this dam causes to the environment, as it is estimated that 70% of fresh water in China is contaminated, and this dam is making matters worse. The dam is located on top of old waste facilities and mining operations, and $265 million is spent gallons of sewage in the Yangtze each year.
8. Mass Migration:
When the dam was built, about 1.2 million people were forced to move out of their homes and search for new homes. Currently, the Chinese government is still displacing residents from the region, and it is expected that hundreds of thousands of people will be moved out of the region in the coming years.
9. The best way to control floods:
The seasonal floods of the Yangtze River have been a major cause of concern for the people who have suffered from this natural disaster for many years. The Yangtze River is the third longest river in the world with a length of 6,357 km across Asia.
The Three Gorges Dam contributes to controlling the seasonal floods of the Yangtze River, that is, it provides great protection for millions of homes and large cities that are located next to the Yangtze River, such as Wuhan, Nanjing and Shanghai. The dam's reservoir is estimated to be about 1,000 square kilometres.
10. Power Generation:
Image: Holmes Rolston III
The Three Gorges Dam generates approximately 11 times the capacity of the Great Hoover Dam, with a production capacity of 22.5 megawatts.
The amount of energy generated by the Three Gorges Dam is so enormous that it is said to be able to secure the entire electrical requirements of the Chinese Republic.
11. Environmental Damage:
Streams of water flowing from the dam.Photo: ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images
The area around the dam is home to 6,400 plant species, 3,400 insect species, 300 fish species, and more than 500 environmental vertebrate species.
The Three Gorges Dam caused great damage to the plants and animals of this region, and its damage extended to affect the environment in which they live, as the erosion of the reservoir caused landslides and even posed a serious threat to the largest fisheries in the world in the East China Sea.
12. The construction cost of this dam was very high:
Estimates of the total cost of the dam range from $25 billion and have risen to $37 billion due to some counts. Even the project has met with great objection by the Chinese parliament because of this high cost, in addition to the fact that it will cause the destruction of 140 towns, 13 cities, and 1,600 settlements (historic monuments).
13. The Three Gorges Dam slowed down the Earth's rotation.
The secret behind this phenomenon is inertia. The size of a large dam with a maximum capacity of 42 billion tons of water affects the Earth, increasing the length of the day by 0.06 seconds.
Source: websites