05/22/2006

Postcard from China

Workers Complete Three Gorges Dam

It has been one of the most controversial public works projects in decades. Environmental activists are still enraged 12 years after work began. But despite all protests, work has finished on China's Three Gorges Dam. It is scheduled to begin operations in 2008.

The project drew international attention because of its enormous scope. Hundreds of thousands had to be relocated from their homes, entire cities would be lost forever and critics warned of a coming environmental catastrophe. After 12 years of controversy, scandal, and construction, workers this weekend placed the last piece of concrete on China's Three Gorges Dam. The behemoth is 185 meters high (607 feet), 2,309 meters long (7,575 feet), and once it starts to operate on the Yangtze River it will be the largest hydroelectric plant in the world.

The dam was scheduled for completion in spring of 2007; work finished months ahead of schedule. Now it should go into operation in 2008, one year early. The dam's 26 turbines will have the capacity to generate 85 billion watts of electricity per hour.

The controversy surrounding the project, however, is as big as the dam itself. Critics say the 660-kilometer reservoir that will accrue behind the dam will bring environmental damage, geological risks and harm both the local ecosystem and infrastructure. The numbers speak for themselves: This year alone, a further 80,000 residents had to be relocated, and if water levels reach their planned normal height of 175 meters, a total of 1.3 million people will lose their homes.

"All the fears we had before the dam have been confirmed. In fact, it's even worse," Dai Qing, a Chinese environmental activist who has served as one of the most vociferous critics of the project, told the German news agency DPA. Entire villages and cities, including factories and refuse dumps, have been flooded -- dramatically increasing water pollution levels. The river's current has also slowed and silt levels increased. The threat of earthquakes has risen as a result of increased water weight on fault lines in the area. Meanwhile, the project has also caused problems for the river's shipping lanes. Financial and technical problems have delayed the construction of five locks and a ship lift, so cargo captains now suffer long waits before making passage through the dam area. Beijing's resettlement policies have also come in for severe criticism: Critics have accused corrupt functionaries of embezzling funds.

Now the Chinese want to solve the many technical problems with the aid of foreign firms, including two German companies contracted to build the ship lift. Cooperation with foreign firms is meant to ensure that the lift's "safety can be guaranteed." Its elevator will be 120 meters long and should accommodate ships with a total weight of up to 3,000 tons -- providing dramatically faster transit times than a traditional system of locks.

The project's director, Li Yong, lashes out at foreign critics who claim the cost of building the dam has spun out of control. Construction costs are currently 180 billion yuan (€18 billion) -- markedly lower than the original price tag of 203 billion yuan. Yong said low interest rates along with a carefully managed budget had helped the government complete the project at a lower cost than planned. Western observers, however, believe the actual costs have been at least double the official government estimate.

And the cost to the environment? At the moment: incalculable.

dsl/dpa

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