on the 20th Anniversary of the Commencement of Three Gorges Project
The Three Gorges dream is mainly to control the flood in the Yangzi River. The Three Gorges effect has been lasting, blessing its people till today. And the dream-chasing journey in Three Gorges in the past century has been so inspiring, triggering immense reflections.
--the preface
December, 14th was the day when the Three Gorges project got started.
After twenty-year construction and ten-year operation of its central part, especially after the water level of the Three Gorges Dam reservoir rose to a designed ceiling of 175 meters the fourth time on November, 11th, 2013, the project has stood up to all tests. And this century-old Three Gorges dream is finally fulfilled.
To turn the Three Gorges dream into a blueprint, and then from the construction to its operation, it has taken nearly a century.
At this very moment, when we look back on the way we\'ve been through and look forward to the coming future, all sorts of feelings well up in our minds: the Three Gorges dream is a dream of flood control, of promising future, of being a thoroughfare, and of development. The Yangtze River is still surging ahead ceaselessly. And on the nation’s great journey of rejuvenation, the 1.3 billion Chinese people never cease to dream and strive forward.
Three Gorges dream, a dream of flood control
Grand and towering, the Three Gorges project is like the magic cudgel or the Dragon King in Chinese myth that can control the flood.
Over the vast surface of the river, the Yingwuzhou Yangtze River Gate Bridge connects the two banks with a sea of high buildings.
On the dock of Wuchang Shipyard soars a white marble statue of Mao Zedong (The founding father of the People\'s Republic of China). “This is the spot where Chairman Mao once entered the water to swim," an employee of the shipyard introduced.
On May 31st, 1956, Chairman Mao was inspired after swimming in the Yangtze River again and wrote the famous poem Swimming:
To span the north and south a bridge we will lay,
The chasm will be turned into a broad highway.
A dam will be built across the upstream to the west,
Bringing Wushan Mountain’s cloud and rain to rest.
A lake will appear around the deep gorge’s crest.
Should the Wushan goddess be alive and sound today,
She would marvel at the world now in new array.
500 km upstream from Wuhan, the great man’s wishes have become true.
Alongside the Xiling Gorge, Tanziling, the viewing platform of Three Gorges project, has attracted flocks of tourists.
Looking far into the distance from the high ground, the Three Gorges Dam, 2309.47 meters long, is like a great wall of steel spanning the Yangtze River, behind which is vast and smooth water.
This is the place where the Three Gorges is located at and where the dream of Yangtze River flood control begins.
Flood has been one of the most catastrophic disasters in China’s history.
The five thousand years of civilization is also a history of flood control.
The Yangtze River, the mother river of Chinese nation, has nurtured the Chinese civilization. However, floods have swept down the river from time to time, which have threatened people’s lives and property.
Several kilometers away from the Three Gorges Dam, the Old Huangling Temple stands still in Sandouping Town.
Even now there are traces left by a huge flood in 1870 in Yuwang Temple, in which 36 Phoebe zhennan pillars still have distinct colors of black and yellow. The lower part of them which have been soaked by flood is in canary yellow, and the mud from the river still can be seen in the crack on the surface of the pillars.
It was the largest flood in history ever in record. The rainstorm poured three days and nights. As a result, the peak discharge hit 105,000 cubic meters. Yichang was swamped by the flood. And more than 50 prefectures and counties in Hubei Province and Hunan Province were inundated. It was then regarded as an overwhelming catastrophe that rarely appeared in centuries.
From the early Han Dynasty (202BC-220DC) to the late Qing Dynasty (1636-1912), 214 floods occurred in Yangtze River during about two thousand years, once in every ten years on average. After the flood, everywhere the eye could see was devastated.
In modern times, the Yangtze River is still very wild and rebellious.
In 1931, flood submerged the whole area of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, leading to the death of 145,000 people;
In 1935, 53 cities and counties in Jianghan Plain were hit, killing 142,000 people;
In 1954, the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway service was disrupted for over 100 days by the flood and it caused the death of 33,000 people;
In 1998, 1,562 people lost their lives in the five devastated provinces in the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River and the direct economic loss amounted to 200 billion yuan ...
The disastrous flood of Yangtze River has always been a huge worrying issue for the Chinese nation.
"The biggest problem concerning the Yangtze River is flood control，which is of critical importance."Wei Shanzhong, deputy director of the Yangtze River Water Resources Commission, has been studying the Yangtze River for 30 years. He said the flood control is of boundless beneficence in the Three Gorges Project. "It’s because nothing is ever more important than life."
As a key project in the process of development and management of Yangtze River, the Three Gorges Project has a storage capacity of 22.15 billion cubic meters for flood control.
In 2010, the peak discharge was 70,000 cubic meters per second. In 2012, the peak discharge was 71,200 cubic meters per second.
There were two huge floods during the 10-years operation period of the Three Gorges Project, both of their peak discharge exceeded the maximum peak of flood in 1998, but the project effectively controlled floods, alleviating the pressure in middle and lower reaches by reducing 40% of the peak for the downstream areas.
"In the past, measures could be taken to control the flood in Yellow River, but we were unable to control the flood in Yangtze River. While now, we feel that the Yangtze River is controllable because at least we have methods to control it. After the worrying issue was basically solved, I feel very much at ease."Weishan Zhong said, "even if there is a flood as huge as that of in 1870, we have ways to tackle it."
Jingjiang River is the most dangerous part of the Yangtze River.
Jingjiang River Levee is where the worst flood of Yangtze happened, so it is also the critical area of flood control in Yangtze River.
Today, the riverbanks are turned into endless green belts.
Three Gorges Project has lifted the flood-control standards of Jingjiang River from withholding flood of 10 years\' frequency to 100 year’ frequency, effectively protecting 15 million people and 1,533,333.33 hectares of farmland in areas of Jianghan Plain and Dongting Lake．
Guanyin Rock is called “The First Rock of Yangtze River". Historically, whenever the Yangtze River entered its flood peak period, the Guanyin Rock stood straight and challenged the strong current, saving the situation many times. Taking a stroll along the Guanyin Rock, you will see two square stone tablets stretching out from the levee’s fence. Water line of the 1998 flood was carved in them, which almost parallels with the guardrail...
"The flood in 1998 caused 24 places of dike bursts and the water level of more than 1700 kilometers of Jingjiang River rose above the warning water level. During the flood peak period, 480,000 people joined the fight against the huge flood." Recalling the past, Zhang Genxi, chief in the Flood Control Department of Bureau of River Channel Management in Jingzhou still felt terrified, "Jingzhou City benefits most from the Three Gorges Project. In the year 2010 and 2012, the water level of Jingjiang would have exceeded the warning water level without the regulation and control from the Three Gorges Dam, which would otherwise result in disastrous consequences. "
“People are organized to the front line by Hubei provincial officials and departments in the 1998 flood disaster. All the governmental officials and common people patrolled on duty day and night along the banks of Yangtze River. Leaders of the Water Conservancy Department guarded the riverbanks for more than two months and hardly had a good sleep at night.” said Wang Zhongfa, the deputy commander of Hubei Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters and director of Hubei Provincial Water Resources Department. Wang majored in Irrigation and Water Conservancy and had worked in the Yangtze River Water Resources Commission over 20 years, and now he serves as director of Hubei Provincial Water Conservancy for nearly eight years, which left him a profound understanding of the flood in the Yangtze River.
“The Yangtze River is the world\'s third largest inland river system. In the National Flood Control Systems, priority should be given to it; while in terms of Yangtze River, the flood control of the Jingjiang reach is the key matter. Once a flood occurs, a devastating damage will be brought to the society. The densely populated Jianghan Plain will definitely be ruined if there’s something wrong with the Jingjiang Levees, thus Wuhan City, the industrial center, will also be at risk.”
“The Three Gorges Project has an important role in flood control, and it cannot be expressed by words," Wang described the role of the Three Gorges Project with double "irreplaceable", that is, the Three Gorges Project is an irreplaceable critical water conservancy project playing an irreplaceable role in the Yangtze River flood control system. "We met a lot of trouble in the 1998 flood disaster, but people have completely different feelings about the flood control in recent years. Even if there is flood, the professional team will be able to handle it and the common people do not need to go to the riverbanks.”
Wang said, “The construction of the Three Gorges Project achieved the dream of the Chinese Nation in controlling flood of the Yangtze River, regarded as Century Great Achievement.”
Yang Weiming, the chief engineer of the River Channel Management Bureau, who had also experienced the 1998 flood disaster said, “In 1998, I inspected the disaster situation in Jingzhou flood-diversion area and the people had been transferred to safety places. Tens of minutes drive, I could not hear any voices or see any living creatures, it is full of wilderness. I will never forget that horrible scenes.” “The most important thing for the Three Gorges Project is that it has solved the problem of Jingjiang flood control, and we are very grateful to the Three Gorges Project! ”
The flood control of Three Gorges Project has brought significant benefits.
“After the commissioning of the Three Gorges Project, over 200 million RMB have been saved on labor costs in guarding the riverbanks in 2010. With a number of 400 million RMB saved in 2012, the saving cost doubled compared with that of the year 2010. Without the Three Gorges Project, hundreds of thousands people would take a full-time job to fight flood and tens of billions costs would be wasted.”Wei Shanzhong said. (Xinhua News Agency, [Beijing], December 15, 2013 - To be continued)