China's lastest engineering colossus (INSANE + Hardcore!!)

[Bluga]

Originally posted by: Rastus
There are American engineering companies involved. I have a friend who is a PhD in hydraulics (water flow type) who is going over there to work on this project.

Wow cool, got any insider's info? This project is MASSIVE.

 

[jteef]

Actually, Communist projects take FOREVER. Why work? You get paid anyways. If you get fired, you get another job given to you.

or shot

jt

 

[wnied]

edit: for clarity: i saw a movie on the three gorges dam and all the craziness thats going to happen when they flood everything with it. i can only imagine what this might do.

My uncle was an understudy to an engineering consultant to this project. He says not to expect it to stay standing for long, as the Chinese are using faulty calculation and shoddy construction work to build it. He gives it two years before it bursts or has to be shut down for safety reasons.

~wnied~

 

[xuanman]

The Three Gorges Dam is an environmental nightmare that will displace (and has already done so) huge numbers of residents as well as destroy historical and cultural areas of signficance....but it will also provide water and electricity that is sorely needed by a developing country of its size and magnitude. I feel lucky to have visited the area pre-Dam, and it is sad to see how much will be destroyed, but I also believe that it is the govt's duty to take care of its people by providing water and electricity before it adopts the luxurious Western notion of worrying about environmental degradation....

 

[DoNotDisturb]

i'll almost be dead when that thing is completed! :Q

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Originally posted by: eakers
its an environmental disaster.

they are going to loose so much

edit: for clarity: i saw a movie on the three gorges dam and all the craziness thats going to happen when they flood everything with it. i can only imagine what this might do.

I've seen that. Everything will be destroyed. History gone down the drain... literally.

 

[Bluga]

Originally posted by: xuanman
The Three Gorges Dam is an environmental nightmare that will displace (and has already done so) huge numbers of residents as well as destroy historical and cultural areas of signficance....but it will also provide water and electricity that is sorely needed by a developing country of its size and magnitude. I feel lucky to have visited the area pre-Dam, and it is sad to see how much will be destroyed, but I also believe that it is the govt's duty to take care of its people by providing water and electricity before it adopts the luxurious Western notion of worrying about environmental degradation....

I just went there 3 month ago, the scale of the project of incredible. The benefits will outweigh the negatives from what i obeserved.

 

[rgwalt]

Originally posted by: Bluga

Originally posted by: xuanman
The Three Gorges Dam is an environmental nightmare that will displace (and has already done so) huge numbers of residents as well as destroy historical and cultural areas of signficance....but it will also provide water and electricity that is sorely needed by a developing country of its size and magnitude. I feel lucky to have visited the area pre-Dam, and it is sad to see how much will be destroyed, but I also believe that it is the govt's duty to take care of its people by providing water and electricity before it adopts the luxurious Western notion of worrying about environmental degradation....

I just went there 3 month ago, the scale of the project of incredible. The benefits will outweigh the negatives from what i obeserved.

There may be a problem with the dam trapping silt in the upstream resivour that the Chinese aren't willing to admit to or face. It will be interesting to see what happens with the 3 Gorges Dam over the next 10 years. I certainly hope it doesn't fail...

Ryan

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Originally posted by: shinerburke
The Soviet Union tried something similar to this back in the 50's or 60's and gave up. Created a BIG mess. I can't remember what the project was named, but the U.N. did some studies back then and determined that if the Soviets had been successful in diverting the river it would have changed weather patterns all across the Pacific and possible even the Western United States. Here's an idea for the Chinese, and I suppose the people starving in Africa.....MOVE TO WHERE THE WATER IS!!!

I guess that slipped their minds!

 

[Bluga]

Originally posted by: rgwalt

Originally posted by: Bluga

Originally posted by: xuanman
The Three Gorges Dam is an environmental nightmare that will displace (and has already done so) huge numbers of residents as well as destroy historical and cultural areas of signficance....but it will also provide water and electricity that is sorely needed by a developing country of its size and magnitude. I feel lucky to have visited the area pre-Dam, and it is sad to see how much will be destroyed, but I also believe that it is the govt's duty to take care of its people by providing water and electricity before it adopts the luxurious Western notion of worrying about environmental degradation....

I just went there 3 month ago, the scale of the project of incredible. The benefits will outweigh the negatives from what i obeserved.

There may be a problem with the dam trapping silt in the upstream resivour that the Chinese aren't willing to admit to or face. It will be interesting to see what happens with the 3 Gorges Dam over the next 10 years. I certainly hope it doesn't fail...

Ryan

I remeber reading somewhere that they solved the silt problem few month ago. I'll try to find th article.

edit: Found it.

(Xinhua News Agency November 1, 2002)

China to Tackle Silt Problem at Three Gorges Water Project

Chinese scientists and experts are working around the clock to ponder over the problem of potential accumulation of sediment, or silt, in the Three Gorges Dam.

Silt accumulation has always been an obstacle in the construction of water dams or reservoirs, and China is a leader in this area of research, said Zhang Chaoran, chief engineer of the China Yangtze Three Gorges Project Development Co., adding that "we believe the Three Gorges dam will provide a good model for future projects."


Experts anticipate that upon completion, the reservoir at Three Gorges could accumulate an average of 530 million tons of silt each year, something which would constitute a major threat to the normal functioning of the hydroelectric plant as a whole.


Scientists have found a solution which consists of discharging the silt through a series of big holes in a strategic part of the dam, said Prof. Ji Xuewu, a prestigious expert in silt research. This solution proved successful in the case of the Sanmenxia Dam in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, restoring it to normal operation.


There will be approximately 23 holes, 7m X 9m in diameter, which will allow the passage of silt during the rainy season, during which the water has a high silt content. During this period, between June and September, the water level will remain at about 145 meters. At the end of October, the dam will start to store water containing less sediments.


Zheng Shouren, chief engineer of the Yangtze River Water Resources Committee and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said this solution permits the elimination of the large part of the silt from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and will therefore guarantee its smooth operation in the long run.


It will also be essential to set up auxiliary silt-cleaning facilities in the area of the Three Gorges in order to oversee the operation of the water route and power station, said the expert.


In order to evaluate real results, the China Yangtze Three Gorges Project Development Co. has funded a 200 million yuan (US$24 million) project in which the Yangtze River Hydroelectric Plant will monitor the real-time situation of silt in the river from now until 2009.


Meanwhile, the Chinese government has allocated a combined sum of 2 billion yuan (US$241 million) into the project in an effort to protect the soil and water in the upper reaches and has also beefed up financial support for an ambitious tree-planting project along the Yangtze River valley. Statistics indicate that soil erosion has been dropping by one percent annually in the area of the Three Gorges, as suggested by the latest monitoring findings.


According to the Yangtze River Water Resources Committee, the State Council has developed a long-term comprehensive scheme to ensure the balanced development of the river, including the construction of a number of water reservoirs.


Two large reservoirs are planned to be built on the turbulent Jinsha river, one of the leading tributaries of the Yangtze's upper reaches. These will steadily reduce silt accumulation by about 46 percent upon completion, said Chief Engineer Zhang Chaoran.


Lu Youmei, general manager of the China Yangtze Three Gorges Project Development Co., said the Three Gorges reservoir will begin storing water gradually, and consequently, the silt treatment will be carried out in different phases in line with theevolving situation in the river.

 

[Nemesis77]

Originally posted by: Centaur6

Originally posted by: silverpig

Originally posted by: Citrix
50 years? wow thats the communist for ya, our unions would drag it out to a 100 year project.

Actually, Communist projects take FOREVER. Why work? You get paid anyways. If you get fired, you get another job given to you.

One of my teachers said he went to the USSR in two trips ~5 years apart and the same crew was building the same apartment building (definitely NOT a 5 year project this one).

First, that's not how communism was implemented in the USSR. Second, the time it took them to build structures had nothing to do with communism. In fact, it still takes them at least 5 years to build an apartment building.

Well, actually it's true. My uncle visited SU few times. He told me that he saw the workers of a collective (huge state-owned farm) doing nothing while their crops were rotting in the fields. Reason was that having good crops didn't give them anything extra, quite the contrary: they would have had to work harded. They got the same oay, no matter how hard they worked.

 

[Nemesis77]

Originally posted by: Bluga
Construction crews have carved a small canyon in the center of town, where they are burrowing through mountains to create 600 miles of superhighways, four new railway lines, an urban light rail system and a new airport. Chinese officials are also promising parks, drinkable tap water and riverside promenades for the city's 30 million residents.

:Q

 

[joohang]

Insane and hardcore indeed, but I am doubtful that a 50-year project could ever be completed.

 

[AgentZap]

Those poor river dolphins are going to be screwed by this

 

[Analog]

for a culture that built the great wall, this would be a huge boost in self-esteem. Although probably a disaster envrionmentally, the regime could care less.

 

[m2kewl]

i just hope it's not runned by the same people to do the Boston dig...then it's worse the FOREVAR!

 

[Sepen]

Originally posted by: Heisenberg

Originally posted by: Tripleshot

Originally posted by: Heisenberg

Project Start Date: The end of 2002
Expected Finish Date: 2050

A 50 year project!? :Q Good god.

Sometimes its hard to believe the world will still be here in 50 years.

I just hope I'll be here in 50 years.

I won't be. I will be either dust or just some crumbling bones by then. Oh wait, I forgetted.... I am going to be cremated.

 

[dmcowen674]

>Major river diversion projects are frequently proposed, but rarely implemented. For example, a blueprint for diverting Siberian rivers to >Central Asian states such as Uzbekistan was formed in the 1980s, but continues to be debated. And recent proposals to divert >Australian rivers prompted fears that salinity changes in their estuaries would damage fisheries.

It wouldn't damage the fisheries, it will eliminate them.

Projects that divert nature is massive ways that man thinks is benefitting man usually man finds out later on down the road that it did not benefit man as much as he thought. Examples in the U.S., levees along the mighty Mississipi river caused massive flooding, they tore down levees so the water has somewhere to go so you don't have disastrous flooding but nature's controlled flooding. Man has to find out the hard way the old saying " You can't fool with Mother Nature because she will make a fool out of you."

 

[FrontlineWarrior]

Originally posted by: wnied
edit: for clarity: i saw a movie on the three gorges dam and all the craziness thats going to happen when they flood everything with it. i can only imagine what this might do.

My uncle was an understudy to an engineering consultant to this project. He says not to expect it to stay standing for long, as the Chinese are using faulty calculation and shoddy construction work to build it. He gives it two years before it bursts or has to be shut down for safety reasons.

~wnied~

i hope i'll be around to give them the ol' nelson HA HA when if it happens
man that would seriously be funny/fuq'ed up though

 

[Skyclad1uhm1]

Originally posted by: shinerburke
The Soviet Union tried something similar to this back in the 50's or 60's and gave up. Created a BIG mess. I can't remember what the project was named, but the U.N. did some studies back then and determined that if the Soviets had been successful in diverting the river it would have changed weather patterns all across the Pacific and possible even the Western United States. Here's an idea for the Chinese, and I suppose the people starving in Africa.....MOVE TO WHERE THE WATER IS!!!

Some Americans might have a problem with the idea of a few hundred million African immigrants.

 

[Bluga]

Originally posted by: Sepen

Originally posted by: Heisenberg

Originally posted by: Tripleshot

Originally posted by: Heisenberg

Project Start Date: The end of 2002
Expected Finish Date: 2050

A 50 year project!? :Q Good god.

Sometimes its hard to believe the world will still be here in 50 years.

I just hope I'll be here in 50 years.

I won't be. I will be either dust or just some crumbling bones by then. Oh wait, I forgetted.... I am going to be cremated.

I hope i can see it.

 

[jarsoffart]

Originally posted by: yellowfiero
for a culture that built the great wall, this would be a huge boost in self-esteem. Although probably a disaster envrionmentally, the regime could care less.

Those poor river dolphins are going to be screwed by this

So depressing... These things honestly make me really sad. The earth is being destroyed and I'm just helping by living in my comfortable home. Our rain forests and wetlands and everything are rapidly being destroyed. I wish we could live in balance with nature. That seems impossible now, just as communism working more than in theory. I think even in the most optimistic views, this project will destroy a lot of the environment.

 

[abovewood]

I hope this new project will be successful and will benefit the people.
And I hope to live to see it.

 

[FrustratedUser]

Another ecological disaster project started by communists. Se what happened when they did the a similar thing in Soviet Union.
They also emptied the worlds biggest lake.

 

[Aceshigh]

It sounds to me like this is desperately needed. The desertification of Western China has produced huge sand clouds sweeping the cities of eastern Asia on a regular basis. China is basically quickly becoming one huge ugly desert. If this project will help alleviate that then I am all for it.