This photo of the Yangtze River - Chang Jiang in China, was taken in 1995, while on reconnaissance with Andy Eavis, preparing for a caving expedition in 1996. In 2009, the Three Gorges Dam, 607 feet high and more than a mile wide is due to be completed across the Yangtze River, near the city of Xintan. It will create a reservoir 370 miles long and totally transform the Three Gorges region. More than 2 million people will leave their homes as the flood water rises. New construction is being carried out on a huge scale - new cities, bridges and roads, all built on the river's mountain flanks. The dam is conceived to control flooding that over the centuries has killed hundreds of thousands of people. It is planned to provide energy, navigation for larger vessels and other commercial benefits. Critics challenge the dam's value for flood control and think it will be an expensive disaster. They predict the environment ruined, displaced people suffering hardship, habitats of rare animals, such as the Chinese river dolphin, destroyed, archaeological sites lost and insufficient energy or commercial benefits. |