3 Gorges Dam

China is building the world's biggest dam. It is China’s most significant public project since the Great Wall. The “Three Gorges Dam” will stretch a mile across and rise 575 feet above the Yangtze River. The dam is being built due to the many deadly floods due to high tides over the years. More than 1 million people have died from these floods in the past century. The dam will also provide fresh drinking water. The dam will also use the waters power to create electricity. This is called hydroelectric power. The dam will use this hydroelectric power to create as much electricity as 18 nuclear power plants. This will forever change the landscape of one of the most beautiful regions in China. Engineers have had trouble, but have recently found a way to build the dam to be engineered to store over 5 trillion gallons of water and to withstand an earthquake of 7.0 on the Richter scale. Many critics do not agree with the idea of the dam considering when the dam becomes operational, over a million people will have been relocated, over a thousand archeological sites will be submerged beneath the reservoir, and endangered species may be driven to extinction.