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

[StinkyPinky]

I wonder how much of this is just political? "Look at us, we're the biggest and the world better take note".

There is no way this type of project would ever get approved in a western country. There are far too many unknown factors and there is no way they can predict what this will do to the ecosystem.

 

[sandorski]

I suspect the length of time to complete the project is largely due to either/both labour availability or the high cost(spreading cost over time). The environmental impact would certainly be a concern, but I'd imagine that it could be minimized if the canals were made in certain ways. We know(North Americans) that concrete lined canals are a big environmental problem, for they prevent plant life from flourishing thus preventing the establishment of an Ecosystem, but if(haven't read all the details of the project) the Chinese make their canals simply by digging a trench, they may be able to establish an Ecosystem in the canals. It seems to me, from what little I've read, that they are quite aware of the various potential problems and are attempting not to repeat other's mistakes, though who knows what new mistakes they may make.

China has some unique challenges mainly due to their huge population, personally I think projects like these, as long as they succeed, will bring increased stability to the region.

 

[prontospyder]

"It is not very hard to build tall buildings and beautiful parks, but to have your government respect intellectuals or respect intellectual properties, that is very hard to reach...

BBC

 

[DaWhim]

all the money from IMF and WB

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Wow, 200,000,000,000

That's like 1/5 of what the Iraq war is gonna cost! Big bux for China.

Edit- I hate when I hit the quote button instead of reply

 

[imported_Tomato]

Peace,
Dezign

 

[GreenGhost]

Funny how easy it is to say it will be an environmental disaster, without knowing any facts about it, not even today's problems. Once you have 500 million people living in a watershed, the environment will change. It's just silly to think otherwise, and people have to deal with the problem. Is Las Vegas an environmental disaster? It's completely different from what it was. They have tons of problems just because of the excess water used in golf courses! It changed the local ecosystem, but it's not a disaster. Lack of water is the most serious problem in the world, and it will get worse quickly. Granted, conservation measures, and especially new ag practices can help a lot, but they may not be enough. I'm skeptical about megaprojects of this nature, but their problems are in a scale that is hard to grasp. For example, the Yellow river is practically dry at its end, and the river bed is higher than the surrounding lands, and dikes keep people on the dry side (for most of the time). The amount of sediment it carries is just unbelievable, and there's little to do about it, unless massive changes take place.

 

[OFFascist]

Well if we ever need to go to war with China there is a nifty target.