COMPREHENSIVE STUDY ON VARIOUS CHALLENGES ENCOUNTERED DURING THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE THREE GORGES DAM AND THEIR MITIGATION

Abstract

The Three Gorges Dam has been built to provide hydroelectricity, flood control, and greater navigation access to the Yangtze River in central China. It is responsible for bringing both unprecedented benefits and risks to the people of the China in general and Yangtze River Valley in particular. The paper presents in detail the challenges faced during construction of one of the largest hydroelectric dam, Three Gorges Dam. For constructing dam, large volume of water has to be diverted. Construction of coffer dam and dismantling it was in itself a huge task. Large amount of concrete was used to build the dam which resulted in generation of large quantity of heat of hydration. The foundation is prone to failure due to presence of large volume of water stored upstream of the reservoir. The foundation rests on weak soil making it more prone to failure. Silting is another issue which can effect efficiency of Power plant. The dam is located in area which is prone to landslides and earthquake. As such area is continuously monitored for any hazard and mitigation.