It's finally done-The Three Gorges Dam

victtodd · Feb 12, 2010

bladerunner said:
Point accepted.

Getting back to the dam: Sources outside and within China acknowledge that not only is there problems with the dam but the ecological effects as well, and because of this , it wasnt operating at its full potential.

Is there any recent news on whether they've come closer to solving it?

Back to the topic, finally.
The dam is gearing up to its full capacities, and

indeed there come some ecological problems. To be fair, the initial estimation of the environmental and ecological impact is over-optimistic, as a result, the central gov has to allocate extra 10bn yuan to mitigate and control the impact. It will be a protracted effort to achieve that goal, not in any time soon.

A engineering project as enormous as the three gorge dam is bound to impact the environment negatively as it changes geographical landscape. And in this case, you can not expect to have it both ways. The yardstick should be whether the benefits significantly outweigh the negative impact. It is still too early to conclude yet, however, with proper management, I think the goal is still within reach.

xywdx · Feb 13, 2010

bladerunner said:
Getting back to the dam: Sources outside and within China acknowledge that not only is there problems with the dam but the ecological effects as well

Well building Washington also had a lot of ecological effects, while we are at it can we undo those as well?

That's such a silly statement, man kind have been altering the landscape for as long as men can remember.

bladerunner · Feb 13, 2010

xywdx said:
Well building Washington also had a lot of ecological effects, while we are at it can we undo those as well?

That's such a silly statement, man kind have been altering the landscape for as long as men can remember.

and theye also seen their errors and compensated eg reafforestation.

Youre comparing apples with oranges.

Cities are constantly changing remodernising and in doing so mistakes of the pass are rectified.
While I dont see any problem in tearing down a dam that was causing more problems than its worth, its a matter of biting the bullet and swallowing ones pride. However Forum members have said quite the opposite. The dam had more possitives than negatives. Ive accepted their views so that aspect of discussion is over as far as Im concerned

solarz · Feb 13, 2010

bladerunner said:
While I dont see any problem in tearing down a dam that was causing more problems than its worth, its a matter of biting the bullet and swallowing ones pride.

You say that as if tearing down the dam would magically restore the 3-gorges area to its former aspect.

bladerunner · Feb 13, 2010

solarz said:
You say that as if tearing down the dam would magically restore the 3-gorges area to its former aspect.

Now that would have been rather fanciful of me to expect that, my suggestion is based on IF Research showed there was more to be gained by doing so. Sometimes pride might prevent us from taking the correct option and Im not directing that at the chinese if thats what youre thinking (More of a flippant off the cuff remark with the crap I have to put up with over here when dealing with officials.)

Overhere we have lots of examplesof politics etc preventing the right option being taken as regards infrastructural problems.

Personally Im dealing with council who have made me spend $60000 on a enviromental friendly sewrage disposal system.The damn thing isnt working and they insist I spend more at my cost, when my original $2000 system was working fine." Will they back off? nah fat chance... If it aint broke why fix it"but no because of council agenda and all that

solarz · Feb 13, 2010

bladerunner said:
Now that would have been rather fanciful of me to expect that, my suggestion is based on IF Research showed there was more to be gained by doing so. Sometimes pride might prevent us from taking the correct option and Im not directing that at the chinese if thats what youre thinking (More of a flippant off the cuff remark with the crap I have to put up with over here when dealing with officials.)

Overhere we have lots of examplesof politics etc preventing the right option being taken as regards infrastructural problems.

Personally Im dealing with council who have made me spend $60000 on a enviromental friendly sewrage disposal system.The damn thing isnt working and they insist I spend more at my cost, when my original $2000 system was working fine." Will they back off? nah fat chance... If it aint broke why fix it"but no because of council agenda and all that

I'm wondering if you might not be seeing this through too narrow a view point. You seem to think that the 3-gorges dam is comparable to a sewage disposal system, and I think that's where the problem is.

The 3-gorges dam is not just a novelty venture by a local government, it's an infrastructure project that had been envisioned almost 100 years ago, planned and debated for decades, and was built over more than 10 years. If you want to compare the 3-gorges dam, compare it to the Great Wall or the Grand Canal. Both of those projects were immensely expensive and their impact on the environment were enormous. In fact, each was responsible for the downfall of its current dynasty! However, no one would propose "tearing down" those structures because their cost wasn't worth it.

Engineer · Feb 13, 2010

bladerunner said:
Cities are constantly changing remodernising and in doing so mistakes of the pass are rectified.

Quite right. All China needs to do is modernize the dam constantly, plant one or two extra trees and things would be automatically rectified. Why are you making such a fuzz then?

bladerunner said:
Now that would have been rather fanciful of me to expect that, my suggestion is based on IF Research showed there was more to be gained by doing so. Sometimes pride might prevent us from taking the correct option and Im not directing that at the chinese if thats what youre thinking (More of a flippant off the cuff remark with the crap I have to put up with over here when dealing with officials.)

So sunk cost isn't a consideration? In any case, tell us about the correct action when there are actually scientific evidences pointing out the dam does more harm than good.

bladerunner said:
Overhere we have lots of examplesof politics etc preventing the right option being taken as regards infrastructural problems.

Obviously, the right option you are referring to is an option which you have a vested interest, but is not necessary the correct one.

bladerunner · Feb 14, 2010

Engineer said:
Quite right. All China needs to do is modernize the dam constantly, plant one or two extra trees and things would be automatically rectified. Why are you making such a fuzz then?

( Shaking my head in Wonderment) For Christ sake man,you need to read all the posts since you last visited so you dont go off half cocked all the time. If you had done so , you will notice another poster had ignored the mods request and raised a point from the banned area of discussion You didnt appear to have a problem with that remark then, so why are you getting your knickers in a twist about it now now? By the way deliberately taking things out of context and being sarcastic, isnt being overly constructive.

So sunk cost isn't a consideration? In any case, tell us about the correct action when there are actually scientific evidences pointing out the dam does more harm than good.

Click to expand...

Can you care to enlighten us
You re the only one so far, thats pointed out the dams doing more harm than good so what are your suggestions.

May I suggest you read posts 2-11 before framing your answer

Obviously, the right option you are referring to is an option which you have a vested interest, but is not necessary the correct one

Click to expand...

.

Click to expand...

Its pretty much a fact that everyone acts out of self interest

GreenestGDP · Feb 14, 2010

Jeff Head said:
Well, since no one has posted any pictures, let me do so. The largest hydro-electric power plant in the world deserves to have pictures of it on the thread that is about it here on SD:

... ... ...

There...that's much better. Always better to have pictures to be able to gauge what we are talking about by.

Thousand Thanks to you Mr. Jeff Head for providing these 3-Gorges Dam pictures.

Jeff Head · Feb 14, 2010

GreenestGDP said:
Thousand Thanks to you Mr. Jeff Head for providing these 3-Gorges Dam pictures.

You are very welcome. It is one of the engineering marvels of our time and pictures always bring it closer to home.

Speaking of improvements to dams, here are some pictures of a little known, major engineering feat in America at Hoover Dam. It is the Hoover Dam Bypass bridge...constructed to allow greater traffic flow past the dam, and for security reasons.

Great site about this, with info and many more pictures, here:

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

It's finally done-The Three Gorges Dam

victtodd

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xywdx

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bladerunner

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solarz

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bladerunner

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solarz

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Engineer

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bladerunner

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GreenestGDP

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Jeff Head

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