2018年CRI Three Gorges Dam: Grand project along the Yangtze

 

The Streaming Down the Yangtze team has arrived in Yichang, Hubei Province and visited the Three Gorges¹ Dam, the world's largest hydropower station.

The dam also helps to prevent floods and boost river navigation.

The team's passenger ship went through the dam on a vessel² lift, as the dam separates the river with over 100 meter difference in water levels.

For more on this, we are now on the line with Yang Guang, CRI's reporter covering the trip. 

Tell us more about the Three Gorges Dam and its power producing capacity.

“A large dam across the Yangtze River was originally envisioned by Sun Yat-sen as early as in 1919, but it’s not until 1994 the construction of such huge dam was initiated³ and in 2012 the project was completed and became fully⁴ operational. Made of concrete and steel, the Three Gorges dam is over 2,300 meters long and the top of the dam is 185 meters above sea level. The project used some 460,000 tonnes of steel, which is enough to build 63 Eiffel Towers. The Three Gorges Dam is currently the largest power station in the world in terms of electric generating capacity, which is 22,500 megawatts. The electric it produces are transmitted to nine provinces and two municipal cities , most of  which on the east coast of China. For one year it produces around one trillion kilowatts⁵ of electricity, that’s nearly 5 percent of the electricity used nationwide annually⁶. It is said the value of electric the dam produces is generated even more quickly than cash printing machine. The hydropower project also means it will limit greenhouse gas emissions⁷. Hydropower saves the energy needed to mine, wash, and transport the coal from northern China. At full power, Three Gorges reduces coal consumption by 31 million tonnes per year, avoiding 100 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.”

How does the dam function in flood control and water navigation?

“Flood has been a major problem for the seasonal⁸ river of the Yangtze. Millions of people live downstream of the dam, with many large, important cities like Wuhan, Nanjing, and Shanghai situated⁹ adjacent to the river. Plenty of farm land and China's most important industrial area are built beside the river. With the Three Gorges Dam being able to hold up the water flowing from upstream Yangtze, the water volume that could’ve been very big in flood seasons going into downstream can be controlled. The reservoir's flood storage capacity is 22 cubic kilometres. This capacity will reduce the frequency of major downstream flooding from once every ten years to once every 100 years. As well as major flood prevention, the dam is also intended to increase the Yangtze River's shipping¹⁰ capacity. With the dam , the water level of upstream Yangtze had been going up. In winter the water level would reach 175 meters above sea and in summer it keeps around 145 meters above sea. So the water depth of upstream Yangtze has increased, which means more heavy and big ships can navigate¹¹ on the river. In this way the shipping capacity can be raised.”

How did your ship go through the dam with the vessel lift?

“First there are two ways for ships to bypass the Three Gorges Dam. One is through ship locks and the other, which we took yesterday was through ship lift. Ship docks use two water gates to change the water level within the dock to send ships from upstream to downstream or the other way around. The shiplift however is a kind of elevator; it can lift vessels¹² of up to 3,000 tonnes. Its design uses a helical gear system, to climb or descend¹³ a toothed rack with the ship. The ship lift at the Three Gorges Dam was completed in 2015 and went through several trials before official operation. The vertical¹⁴ distance traveled for our ship to pass the dam is 113 meters. It took us roughly 30 minutes to transit¹⁵ from upstream to downstream Yangtze. The time would be increased to three or four hours if we went through the locks. We were told that now only ten or so ships went through the dam with the ship lift every dat at present. It’s expected the design will be more mature in the future and more ships can pass the dam this way.”

That was CRI's Yang Guang with the Streaming down the Yangtze journey. 

1 gorges   

n.山峡，峡谷( gorge的名词复数 )；咽喉v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的第三人称单数 )；作呕

参考例句：

• The explorers were confronted with gorges(that were)almost impassable and rivers(that were)often unfordable. 探险人员面临着几乎是无路可通的峡谷和常常是无法渡过的河流。 来自辞典例句
• We visited the Yangtse Gorges last summer. 去年夏天我们游历了长江三峡。 来自辞典例句

2 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

3 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 kilowatts   

千瓦( kilowatt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It's about 500 kilowatts per hour on average. 年用电量平均为每小时500千瓦。 来自商贸英语会话
• We have an emergency-standby electric generator with a capacity of 300 kilowatts. 我们有一台三百千瓦的事故备用发电机。

6 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

7 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

8 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。

9 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

10 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

11 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

12 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

14 vertical   

adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置

参考例句：

• The northern side of the mountain is almost vertical.这座山的北坡几乎是垂直的。
• Vertical air motions are not measured by this system.垂直气流的运动不用这种系统来测量。

15 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。