China has just finished pouring the last of the concrete for the epic Three Gorges Dam. By the time the Three Gorges Development Corporation completes their project plan in 2009, the dam’s 28 million cubic metres of concrete will be holding back 40 billion cubic metres of the Yangtze River, and using it to generate 18.2 gigawatts of electricity. When operating at full capacity, 3GD will avoid the need to import and burn about 475,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
The world’s largest hydroelectric facility is named after three scenic upstream vistas, the Qutang, Xiling and Wuxia gorges.
Hallmark Yangtze Dam Completed – China Daily, 2006-05-20
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The Yangtze river dam has already been completed. If you take a closer look at the image, one the left hand side, the dam was still under construction. The dam was built in several stages, i guess this photo of the Three Gorges Dam was taken sometime around 2005.
Most dams aren’t much to look at, but this is a really beautiful creation.
This dam lives up to its name–it’s really gorges. (Get it? “gorges”/”gorgeous”)