Three Gorges Dam

Three Gorges Dam
Official name	长江三峡水利枢纽工程
Locale	Sandouping, Yiling District, Hubei, China
Coordinates
Construction began	December 14, 1994
Opening date	2011
Construction cost	¥180 billion (US$26 billion)
Dam and spillways
Type of dam	Gravity dam
Length	2,335 m (7,661 ft)
Height	185 m (607 ft)[1]
Crest width	40 m (131 ft)
Base width	115 m (377 ft)
Impounds	Yangtze River
Reservoir
Creates	Three Gorges Reservoir
Capacity	39.3 km3 (31,861,028.5 acre·ft)
Catchment area	1,000,000 km2 (390,000 sq mi)
Surface area	1,045 km2 (403 sq mi)
Power station
Turbines	32 × 750 MW 02 × 50 MW
Installed capacity	22,500 MW
Annual generation	100,000 GWh
Bridge
Carries	177
Toll	¥10.00
NBI identification	7649

The Three Gorges Dam (simplified Chinese: 长江三峡大坝; traditional Chinese: 長江三峽大壩; pinyin: Chángjiāng Sānxiá Dàbà) 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.^[2]

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.^[3]

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.^[4]

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.^[5]

The Chinese state regards the project as a historic engineering, social and economic success,^[6] with the design of state-of-the-art large turbines,^[7] and a move toward limiting greenhouse gas emissions.^[8] 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.^[9] The dam has been a controversial topic both in China and abroad.^[10]

Project history

In his poem "Swimming" (1956), engraved on the 1954 Flood Memorial in Wuhan, Mao Zedong envisions "walls of stone" to be erected upstream.^[11]

The dam was originally envisioned by Sun Yat-sen in The International Development of China, in 1919.^[12] He stated that a dam capable of generating 30 million horsepower (22,371 MW) was possible downstream of the Three Gorges.^[12] In 1932, the Nationalist government, led by Chiang Kai-shek, began preliminary work on plans in the Three Gorges. In 1939, Japanese military forces occupied Yichang and surveyed the area. A design, the Otani plan, was completed for the dam in anticipation of a Japanese victory over China.^[13] In 1944, the United States Bureau of Reclamation chief design engineer, John L. Savage, surveyed the area and drew up a dam proposal for the 'Yangtze River Project'.^[14] Some 54 Chinese engineers went to the U.S. for training. Some exploration, survey, economic study, and design work was done, but the government, in the midst of the Chinese Civil War, halted work in 1947.

After the 1949 Communist victory, Mao Zedong supported the project, but began the Gezhouba Dam project first, and economic problems including the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution slowed progress. In 1958, after the Hundred Flowers Campaign, some engineers who spoke out against the project were imprisoned.^[15]

After the 1954 Yangtze River Floods, in 1956, Mao Zedong authored "Swimming", a poem about his fascination with a dam on the Yangtze River. Lines 15-17 read:^[16]

During the 1980s, the idea reemerged. The National People's Congress approved the dam in 1992: out of 2,633 delegates, 1,767 voted in favour, 177 voted against, 664 forfeited, and 25 members did not vote.^[17] Construction started on December 14, 1994.^[1] The dam was expected to be fully operational in 2009, but additional projects such as the underground power plant with six additional generators and the complexity of the ship lift, are expected to delay full operation until about 2011^[15] (the ship lift is further out, in 2014.)^[18] The dam had raised the water level to 172.5 meters (566 ft) as of the end of 2008.^[19]

Layout and scale

Model of the Three Gorges Dam including the dam body, the spillway and the ship lift.

Model of the Three Gorges Dam showing the ship lift and the ship lock.

The figure on the right faces upstream. The dam body in the middle left of the figure was divided into the left side (the right one-third of the dam body in this figure), the spillway (the middle of the dam body), and the right side (the left one-third of the dam body in this figure). The underground power plant under construction is to the left of the dam body, hidden in the mountains. The dam wall is made of concrete and is about 29 metres (95 ft) long, and 185 metres (607 ft) high. The wall is 1 metre (3.3 ft) thick on the bottom and 40 metres (131.2 ft) thick on top. The project used 200,000 cubic metres (300,000 cu yd) of concrete, 463,000 tonnes of steel, enough to build 63 Eiffel Towers, and moved about 102,600,000 cubic metres (134,200,000 cu yd) of earth.^[20] The ship lift is to the right of the dam body with its own designated waterway. The ship locks, which can be seen in the second figure, are to the right (northeast) of the ship lift.

When the water level is at its maximum of 175 metres (574 ft) over sea level (110 metres or 361 feet above the river level downstream), the dam reservoir is about 660 kilometres (410 mi) in length and 1.12 kilometres (0.70 mi) in width on average, and contains 39.3 km³ (31,900,000 acre·ft) of water. The total surface area of the reservoir is 1,045 km². The reservoir flooded a total area of 632 km² of land, compared to the 1,350 km² of reservoir created by the Itaipu Dam.^[21]

Economics

When finished, the project is expected to have cost 180 billion yuan, 12% under budget, approximately 30 billion USD. The lower costs are attributed to a low inflation rate rather than lower spending.^[22] By the end of 2008, spending had reached 148.365 billion yuan, among which 64.613 billion yuan was spent on construction, 68.557 billion yuan on relocating affected residents, and 15.195 billion yuan on financing.^[23] It is estimated that the construction cost will be recovered when the dam has generated 1,000 TWh of electricity, yielding 250 billion yuan. Full cost recovery is expected to occur ten years after the dam starts full operation.^[24]

Funding sources include the Three Gorges Dam Construction Fund, profits from the Gezhouba Dam, loans from the China Development Bank, loans from domestic and foreign commercial banks, corporate bonds, and revenue before and after the dam is fully operational. Additional charges were assessed as follows: Every province receiving power from the Three Gorges Dam has to pay ¥7.00 per MWh extra. Other provinces had to pay an additional charge of ¥4.00 per MWh. Tibet pays no surcharge.^[25]

Panorama of the Three Gorges Dam

Power generation and distribution

Generating capacity

Electricity production in China by source. Compare: The fully completed Three Gorges dam will contribute about 100 TWh of generation per year.      thermofossil      hydroelectric      nuclear

Power generation is managed by China Yangtze Power a listed subsidiary of China Three Gorges Corporation (CTGPC) a Central Enterprise SOE administered by SASAC. The Three Gorges Dam is the world’s largest hydroelectric power station by total capacity, eventually reaching 22,500 MW.^[12] It will have 34 generators: 32 main generators, each with a capacity of 700 MW, and two plant power generators, each with capacity of 50 MW. Among those 32 main generators, 14 are installed in the north side of the dam, 12 in the south side, and the remaining six in the underground power plant in the mountain south of the dam. The expected annual electricity generation will be over 100 TWh,^[26] 18% more than the originally predicted 84.7 TWh, resulting from the six generators added in 2002.

Generators

The main generators weigh about 6,000 tonnes each and are designed to produce more than 700 MW of power. The designed head of the generator is 80.6 meters (264 ft). The flow rate varies between 600–950 cubic metres (780–1,240 cu yd) depending on the head available. The greater the head, the less water needed to reach full power. Three Gorges uses Francis turbines. Turbine diameter is 9.7/10.4 m (VGS design/Alstom's design) and rotation speed is 75 revolutions per minute. Rated power is 778 MVA, with a maximum of 840 MVA and a power factor of 0.9. The generator produces electrical power at 20  kV. The outer diameter of the generator stator is 21.4/20.9 m. The inner diameter is 18.5/18.8 m. The stator, the biggest of its kind, is 3.1/3 m in height. Bearing load is 5050/5500 tonnes. Average efficiency is over 94%, and reaches 96.5%.^[27][28]

Three Gorges Dam Francis Turbine

The generators are manufactured by two joint ventures. One of them includes Alstom, ABB Group, Kvaerner, and the Chinese company Haerbin Motor. The other includes Voith, General Electric, Siemens (abbreviated as VGS), and the Chinese company Oriental Motor. The technology transfer agreement was signed together with the contract. Most of the generators are water-cooled. Some newer ones are air-cooled, which are simpler in design and manufacture and are easier to maintain.^[29]

Here is a video animation of the Three Gorges Dam generators. ^[30]

Generator installation progress

The 14 north side generators are in operation. The first (No. 2) started on July 10, 2003 and No. 9 completed things on September 7, 2005. Full power (9,800 MW) was only reached on October 18, 2006 after the water level reached 156 m.^[31]

The 12 south side generators are also in operation. No. 22 began operation on June 11, 2007 and No. 15 started up on October 30, 2008.^[3] The sixth (No. 17) began operation on December 18, 2007, raising capacity to 14.1 GW, finally surpassing Itaipu (14.0 GW), to become the world's largest hydropower plant.^{[32][33][34][35]}

The underground power plant and its six generators, were still under construction as of December, 2008.^[36][37]

Output milestones

Three Gorges Dam annual power output

Yangtze River flow rate comparing to the dam intake capacity

By September 16, 2009, the plant had generated 348.4 TWh of electricity,.^[38][39] Its 18,300 MW installed capacity is about 4,300 MW more than Itaipu's. In July 2008 it generated 10.3 TWh of electricity, its first month over 10 TWh.^[40] On June 30, 2009, after the river flow rate increased to over 24,000 m³, all 28 generators were switched on, producing only 16,100 MW because the head available during flood season is insufficient.^[41] During an August 2009 flood, the plant first reached its maximum output for a short period.^[42]

During the November to May dry season, power output is limited by the river's flow rate, as seen in the diagrams on the right. When there is enough flow, power output is limited by plant generating capacity. The maximum power-output curves were calculated based on the average flow rate at the dam site, assuming the water level is 175 m and the plant gross efficiency is 90.15%. The actual power output in 2008 was obtained based on the monthly electricity sent to the grid.)^[43][44]

Several factors limited power output in 2008. First, the dam was not operating at 175 m for most of the year, reducing the water flow's potential energy. During the flood season, in order to accommodate water surges, operators lowered the water level to 145 m. Also generators were still being installed—the plant did not reach capacity until the end of the year. Note that the diagrams on the right are based on the power sent to the grid, while the table displays the total generated.

Distribution

The State Grid Corporation and China Southern Power Grid paid a flat rate of ¥250 per MWh ($35.7 US) until July 2, 2008. Since then, the price has varied by province, from ¥230.6-11.1 per MWh. Higher-paying customers receive priority, such as the city of Shanghai.^[47] Nine provinces and two cities consume power from the dam.^[48]

Power distribution and transmission infrastructure cost about 34.387 billion Yuan. Construction completed in December 2007, one year ahead of schedule.^[49]

Power is distributed over multiple 500 kilovolt (kV) transmission lines. Three Direct current (DC) lines to the East China Grid carry 7,200 MW: Three Gorges-Shanghai (3,000 MW), HVDC Three Gorges-Changzhou (3,000 MW), and HVDC Gezhouba - Shanghai (1,200 MW). The alternating current (AC) lines to the Central China Grid have a total capacity of 12,000 MW. The DC transmission line HVDC Three Gorges-Guangdong to the South China Grid has a capacity of 3,000 MW .^[50]

The dam was expected to provide 10% China's power. However, demand has increased more quickly than planned. Even fully operational, it would support only about 3% of 2006 requirements.^[51]

Environmental effects

Biodiversity

Many of the 3,000 to 4,000 remaining critically endangered Siberian Cranes, wintered in wetlands that the dam destroyed. The dam also contributed to, but was not the major cause of, the functional extinction of the Baiji, the Yangtze river dolphin.

Emissions

Power generation

According to the National Development and Reform Commission of China, 366 grams of coal produces 1 kWh of electricity in China.^[52] At full power, Three Gorges reduces coal consumption by 31 million tonnes per year, avoiding 100 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions,^[53] millions of tonnes of dust, one million tonnes of sulfur dioxide, 370,000 tonnes of nitric oxide, 10,000 tonnes of carbon monoxide, and a significant amount of mercury.^[54] Hydropower saves the energy needed to mine, wash, and transport the coal from northern China.

From 2003 to 2007, power production equaled that of 84 million tonnes of standard coal, reducing carbon dioxide by 190 million tons, sulfur dioxide by 2.29 million tonnes, and nitrogen oxides by 980,000 tonnes.^[55]

Shipping

The dam increased the Yangtze's barge capacity six-fold, reducing carbon dioxide emission by 630,000 tonnes. From 2004 to 2007 a total of 198 million tonnes of goods passed through the ship locks. Compared to using trucking, barges reduced carbon dioxide emission by ten million tonnes and lowered costs 25%.^[55]

Erosion and sedimentation

Two hazards are uniquely identified with the dam.^[56] One is that sedimentation projections are not agreed upon, and the other is that the dam sits on a seismic fault.

At current levels, 80% of the land in the area is experiencing erosion, depositing about 40 million tons of sediment into the Yangtze annually.^[57] The relocation of people from the reservoir area will cause further deforestation and erosion due to agricultural needs.

Stopping the periodic and uncontrolled flooding of the river will lessen bank erosion. The dam will reduce the amount of silt transported to the Yangtze Delta, eventually reducing the effectiveness of the dam for electricity generation. Perhaps more important, the reduction of downstream silt could result in erosion and sinking of coastal areas.

Excessive sedimentation could block the dam's sluice gates, causing dam failure under some conditions, as occurred with the Banqiao Dam in 1975. Critics claim that the reservoir will average 530 million tons of silt per year. Silt accumulates behind the dam, clogging the turbines' entranceway. However, because China has begun constructing four other megadams upstream since 2006, the sedimentation seems likely to be much less than originally predicted.

The absence of silt downstream has two effects:

• Some hydrologists expect downstream riverbanks to become more vulnerable to flooding.^[58]
• The city of Shanghai, more than 1,000 miles (1,609 km) away, rests on a massive sedimentary plain. The "arriving silt—so long as it does arrive—strengthens the bed on which Shanghai is built... the less the tonnage of arriving sediment the more vulnerable is this biggest of Chinese cities to inundation..."^[59] Benthic sediment buildup causes biological damage and reduces aquatic biodiversity.^[60]

Earthquakes and landslides

Earthquake-induced peak ground acceleration coupled with the immense weight of the reservoir water might be able breach the upstream face of the dam.^[61] Erosion in the reservoir, induced by rising water, causes frequent major landslides that have led to noticeable disturbance in the reservoir surface, including two incidents in May 2009 when 50,000 and 20,000 cubic metres (65,000 and 26,000 cu yd) of material plunged into the flooded Wuxia Gorge of the Wu River.^[62]

Waste management

Zigui County seat source water protection area in Maoping Town, a few km upstream of the dam

The dam catalyzed improved upstream wastewater treatment around the large city of Chongqing and its suburban areas. According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, as of April 2007 more than 50 new plants could treat 1.84 million tonnes per day, 65% of the total need. About 32 landfills were added, which could handle 7,664.5 tonnes of solid waste every day.^[63][64]

Over one billion tons of wastewater are released annually into the river.^[57] The dam significantly decreases the river's flushing capacity, and increases pollution load. Cleaning the river of the current pollution load is estimated to cost 2.8 billion Yuan.

Forest cover

The Three Gorges area currently has 10% forestation, down from 20% in the 1950s.^[57]

“The FAO’s research suggests that the Asia-Pacific region will, overall, gain about 6,000 square km of forest in 2008. That is quite a turnaround from the 13,000 square km net loss of forest each year in the 1990s. The main reason is China’s huge reforestation effort. This accelerated after terrible floods in 1998 convinced the government that it must restore tree cover, especially in the mighty Yangtze’s basin” upstream of the Three Gorges Dam.^[65]

Floods, agriculture, industry

The most significant function of the dam is to control flooding, which is a major problem for the seasonal river of the Yangtze. Millions of people live downstream of the dam, with many large, important cities like Wuhan, Nanjing, and Shanghai situated adjacent to the river. Plenty of farm land and China's most important industrial area are built beside the river.

The reservoir's flood storage capacity is 22 km³ (18 million acre feet. This capacity will reduce the frequency of major downstream flooding from once every ten years to once every 100 years. The dam is expected to minimize the effect of even a "super" flood.^[66][67] In 1954 the river flooded 193,000 km² (74,518 sq mi), killing 33,169 people and forcing 18,884,000 people to move. The flood covered Wuhan, a city of eight million people, for over three months, and the Jingguang Railway was out of service for more than 100 days.^[68] The 1954 flood carried 50 billion m³ of water. The dam could only divert the water above Chenglingji, leaving 30 to 40 billion m³ to be diverted.^[69] Also the dam could not protect the large tributaries such as the Xiangjiang, Zishui, Yuanshui, Lishui, Hanjiang, and Ganjiang.

In 1998 a flood in the same area caused billions of dollars in damage; 2,039 km² (787 sq mi) of farm land were flooded. The flood affected more than 2.3 million people, killing 1,526.^[70]

In early August 2009, the largest flood in five years passed through the dam site. The dam limited the water flow to less than 40,000 cubic metres (52,000 cu yd) per second, raising the upstream water level from 145.13 metres on August 1, 2009, to 152.88 on August 8, 2009. 4.27 cubic kilometres of flood water were captured and the river flow was cut by as much as 15,000 cubic metres per second.^[42]

The dam discharges its reservoir during the dry season between December and March every year.^[71] This increases the flow rate of the river downstream, and provides fresh water for agricultural and industrial usage. It also improves shipping conditions. The water level upstream drops from 175 m to 145 m,^[72] preparing for the rainy season. The water also powers the Gezhouba Dam downstream.

Since the filling of the reservoir in 2003, the Three Gorges Dam has supplied an extra 11 billion cubic metres of fresh water to downstream cities and farms during the dry season.^[73]

In July, 2010, the Three Gorges Dam reached a flood peak of 70,000 cubic meters per second exceeding the peak in 1998 Yangtze River Floods due to the 2010 South China floods, which has caused heavy losses of several cities in Guizhou, Jiangxi, Fujian, Sichuan and Yunnan.^[74][75]

Navigating the dam

Ship locks for river traffic to bypass the Three Gorges Dam, May 2004

Locks

The installation of ship locks is intended to increase river shipping from ten million to 100 million tonnes annually, with transportation costs cut by 30 to 37%. Shipping will become safer, since the gorges are notoriously dangerous to navigate.^[55]

Each of the two ship locks is made up of five stages, with transit time at around four hours. Maximum vessel size is 10,000 tons.^[76] Critics argue, however, that siltation will clog ports such as Chongqing within a few years based on the evidence from other dam projects.

The locks are 280 m long, 35 m wide, and 5 m deep (918 x 114 x 16.4 ft).^[77][78]

That is 30 m longer than those on the St Lawrence Seaway, but half as deep. Before the dam was constructed, the maximum freight capacity at the Three Gorges site was 18.0 million tonnes per year. From 2004 to 2007, a total of 198 million tonnes of freight passed through the locks. The freight capacity of the river increased six times and the cost of shipping was reduced by 25%. The total capacity of the ship locks is expected to reach 100 million tonnes.^[55]

Ship lifts

In addition to the canal locks, a ship lift, a kind of elevator for vessels is under construction. The ship lift is designed to be capable of lifting ships of up to 3,000 tons.^[79] The original plans specified a lift with the capacity to lift 11,500 ton vessels. The vertical distance traveled will be 113 metres,^[80] and the size of the ship lift's basin will be 120x18x3.5 metres. The ship lift, when completed, will take 30 to 40 minutes to transit, as opposed to the three to four hours for stepping through the locks.^[81] One complicating factor is that the water level can vary dramatically. The ship lift must work even if water levels vary by 12 meters (39 ft) on the lower side, and 30 metres on the upper side.

The ship lift was not yet complete when the rest of the project was officially opened on May 20, 2006.^[82][83] Construction of the ship lift started in October 2007 and is anticipated to be completed in 2014.^[18]

Relocation of residents

As of June 2008, China relocated 1.24 million residents, ending with Gaoyang in Hubei Province),^[84][85] about 1.5% of the province's 60.3 million and Chongqing City's 31.44 million population.^[86] About 140,000 residents were relocated to other provinces.^[87]

Relocation was completed on July 22, 2008.^[85] Chongqing City will encourage an additional four million people to move away from the dam to the Chongqing metropolitan area by the year 2020.^[88][89][90]

Allegedly, funds for relocating 13,000 farmers around Gaoyang disappeared after being sent to the local government, leaving residents without compensation.^[91]

Other effects

Culture and aesthetics

The 600 kilometers (373 mi) long reservoir flooded some 1,300 archaeological sites and altered the appearance of the Three Gorges as the water level rose over 600 feet (180 m).^[92] Cultural and historical relics are being moved to higher ground as they are discovered, but the flooding inevitably covered undiscovered relics. Some sites could not be moved because of their location, size, or design. For example, the hanging coffins site high in the Shen Nong Gorge is part of the cliffs.^[93]

National security

The Department of Defense reported that in Taiwan, “proponents of strikes against the mainland apparently hope that merely presenting credible threats to China’s urban population or high-value targets, such as the Three Gorges Dam, will deter Chinese military coercion.”^[94]

The notion that the Taiwanese military would seek to destroy the dam provoked an angry response from the People's Republic of China media. People's Liberation Army General Liu Yuan was quoted in the China Youth Daily saying that the People’s Republic of China would be "seriously on guard against threats from Taiwan independence terrorists."^[95]

Structural integrity

Days after the first filling of the reservoir, around 80 hairline cracks were observed in the dam's structure.^[96][97][98] The submerged spillway gates of the dam pose a risk of cavitation,^[61] of which destroyed the spillways of the Glen Canyon Dam in the floods of 1983.

The project claimed that 163,000 concrete units of the dam all passed quality testing and that deformation was within design limits. An experts group gave the project overall a good quality rating.^[99]

Upstream dams

Longitudinal profile of upstream Yangtze River

In order to maximize the utility of the Three Gorges Dam and cut down on sedimentation from the Jinsha River, upstream of the Yangtze River before reaching Yibin, China plans to build a series of dams downstream of Jinsha, including Wudongde Dam, Baihetan Dam, Xiluodu Dam, and Xiangjiaba Dam. The total capacity of those four dams is 38,500 MW,^[100] almost double the capacity of the Three Gorges.^[101] Xiluodu and Xiangjiaba are under construction, while Baihetan is preparing for construction and Wudongde is seeking government approval. Another eight dams are in the midstream of the Jinsha and eight more upstream of it.^[102]

In culture

• In Max Brooks’ novel World War Z, the large artificial lake upstream of the dam is the site of the initial zombie outbreak before the war; a superstitious character suggests that the outbreak is retribution for the destruction of ancient holy sites. Later in the novel, the dam is overrun by zombie hordes, which make the emergency pressure release valves impossible to reach. This eventually ruptures the dam, resulting in a massive tsunami which races to the ocean, destroying what remains of Wuhan, Nanjing, and Shanghai, catalyzing the Chinese Civil War.^[103]
• In the novel Dragon Bones by Lisa See, a murder investigation takes place at the dam.^[104]
• Jia Zhangke's film Still Life describes the destiny of two couples with dam connections.
• Yung Chang's 2007 award-winning documentary film, Up the Yangtze, features the effects of the dam on various people along the Yangtze River.
• Jennifer Baichwal's 2006 award-winning documentary film, Manufactured Landscapes about the work of photographer Edward Burtynsky. The film follows Burtynsky on a tour of China as he takes large-scale photographs of industrial subjects.
• Robert Ferrigno's 2006 novel Prayers for the Assassin involves a massive nuclear bomb found at the base of the dam.^[105]
• Nevermore's song "The River Dragon Has Come," from the album Dead Heart In a Dead World, describes the breaking of the Three Gorges Dam.
• The dam is featured as a world wonder in Sid Meier's Civilization IV.

See also

• Energy policy of China
• Hydroelectricity
• List of largest hydroelectric power stations
• List of largest power stations in the world
• List of conventional hydroelectric power stations
• List of dam megaprojects
• List of power stations in China
• Megaproject
• Megaprojects and risk

References

External links

• Digital Times' coverage
• International Rivers - information page on the project
• BBC News Online - Troops to protect dam against terrorists - September 14, 2004.
• BBC News Dam wall completed - May 2006
• BBC News In pictures: Three Gorges Dam - May 20, 2006.
• chinadialogue 中国与世界，环境危机大家谈 - article about the politics of water in China
• Up the Yangtze - a documentary film about the impact of the project
• Three Gorges Dam Tourism - a tourist's view of the Three Gorges Dam
• "Three Gorges dam's social impact" by Jill McGivering, BBC News, May 20, 2006, retrieved May 20, 2006
• "As China's mega dam rises, so do strains and fear" Reuters November 14, 2007
• Jim Yardley (2007-11-21). "Chinese Dam Projects Criticized for Their Human Costs". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/19/world/asia/19dam.html?fta=y&pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2007-12-09. 
• Jim Yardley (2007-11-22). "China to Address Issues Around Dam". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/22/world/asia/22gorges.html?fta=y. Retrieved 2007-12-09. 
• Anderlini, Jamil (2007-10-31). "Sold down the river". Financial Times. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/20d888b0-87d1-11dc-9464-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1. Retrieved 2008-01-20. 
• Three Gorges Probe (2008-03-18). "Three Gorges Oral History Series: Absence of Justice: Lu Chengming's Struggle for Compensation". http://www.probeinternational.org/catalog/content_fullstory.php?contentId=6790&cat_id=7. 
• Yang Lei (20 May 2006). "Three Gorges dam to facilitate flood control ahead of time". Chinese Government. http://english.gov.cn/2006-05/20/content_286525.htm. 

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