The Worlds Largest Dam

At over 720 feet tall and over 1,00 feet long

, the Hoover Dam was once the largest dam in the world. Truly a massive undertaking, the it holds back the over 35 cubic kilometers of water in Lake Mead. Of course Hoover is the worlds largest dam no longer, and the current largest dwarfs it in every way. Read on to learn about the Three Gorges dam in China.

The Three Gorges dam on the Yangtze River in China is truly a massive dam. The project took nine years to complete (1994-2003) and cost over $26 billion to construct. Not only that, but it displaced over 1.3 million people with the reservoir that it created. The dam has been surrounded by controversy since the beginning, even though it is a triumphant achievement and has many positive aspects.

The Controversy

The problems with the project were the displacement of millions, the cost of the project, the ecological effects, and the danger of earthquakes and landslides to the structure. The resulting reservoir that the dam created has caused the Chinese government to move over 1.3 million people, which besides making them angry, has also been a huge cost factor for the project. Speaking of costs, the project was originally supposed to cost only about 7 billion, which means that the actual cost quadrupled that estimate. The ecological effects are also a concern. The dam will block the natural flow of water, which is detrimental to fish and other species in the area. And finally, the area in which the dam was built is known to have geologic activity, not exactly the best place to build a dam. An earthquake that damaged the dam could be a massive disaster indeed.

The Benefits

Of course it is not all bad news, after all, there was a reason they built the dam in the first place. The dam will generate massive amounts of clean hydroelectric energy for China, helping to replace the use of coal to create that energy. The project also provides thousands of jobs to Chinese workers, and do not forget about the giant lake that it creates, which will be a source of pride and recreation for all of China.

The Stats

So just how big is this dam? Well you have seen the stats of the Hoover dam above, so now it is time to compare. the Three Gorges dam is almost 600 feet high, over 7,600 feet long, and holds back almost 40 cubic kilometers of water. So you can see that Hoover is taller, and they both hold back similar sized reservoirs, but the Three Gorges dam is over seven times longer. Of course there is also the power comparison. The Hoover dam can generate over two thousand megawatts of power at a time, while the Three Gorges can generate 22.5 gigawatts of energy, that is over ten times the power generation. So as you can see, we are talking about a bit more power than your average Kohler generator or MQ generator can put out.

by: Max Stanford

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