Three Gorges Dam Benefits – Flood Control

Three Gorges Dam Benefits – Flood Control Capacity

From the flood control point, the Three Gorges Dam is a concrete gravity dam, which working principle is that with the function of water pressure and other load, mainly use the skid resistance which caused by its own weight to meet the steady need. The designed flood control capacity of Three Gorges Dam is to defense thousand-year flood, and improve the flood control standard of the main stream of the Yangtze River from Yichang to Wuhan to hundred-year flood. When there is thousand-year flood, it can guarantee the downstream do not use flood diversion and stagnation area; when there is ten thousand-year flood, it can avoid the threaten of dam-break. Due to climate in China is typical southeast monsoon climate, the rainfall distribution is very asymmetrical. The Yangtze River from Yichang to Wuhan is ground river, which ever happened a flood almost in ten years in past 2000 years. The flood in 1998 remains fresh in our memory. After the Three Gorges Dam built, it can very effectively improve the flood control standard in the downstream of the Yangtze River, and powerfully delay river siltation. The Three Gorges Project is the patron saint of the 23 million mu fields and 15 million people's life and property in the middle and down flood control system, as well as Jinguang Railway and Jingjiu Railway.

Three Gorges Dam Benefits – Flood Control History

In the summer of 2007, the rain in the upstream of the Yangtze River lasted for a long time. At 8 o'clock in July 30th, the income flow rate of Three Gorges Reservoir reached 51000 cubic meters per second, the water level in Three Gorges Reservoir area quickly increased. Yangtze Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarter Office thought that it was the first time of the Three Gorges Dam undertook the flood control task. We can see that the Three Gorges Dam played a very important role in flood control. It can control the discharge amount less than 48000 cubic meters per second, to block the flood for the middle and down stream of the Yangtze River. It prevented the flood disaster in 1998 occur again.

Therefore, the flood control is one of the most important Three Gorges Dam benefits.