# Current status of the Three Gorges Dam in China? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 23, 2004, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-the-three-gorges-dam-in-china/270728 "2004-10-23T04:16:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-the-three-gorges-dam-in-china/270728/1 "2004-10-23T04:16:38Z")
I did a brief Google search, but I couldn’t find any recent (from this year) information. Everyone just have projections and estimates for where construction will be. Where can I get some more concrete information on the progress? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-the-three-gorges-dam-in-china/270728/2 "2004-10-23T04:36:22Z")
I think that it is ABD, if it isn’t done. [This story](http://www.irn.org/programs/threeg/index.asp?id=030403.reservoir.html) mentions that filling it started in April of '03. Other sources indicate that it was in fact completed back in 2003. [This site](http://www.chinapage.com/3gorge/3gorge.html) has some good information. ---
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-the-three-gorges-dam-in-china/270728/3 "2004-10-24T18:54:56Z")
Thanks **Adam**. I’m surprised at the lack of up-to-date info available, really. ---
**Author:** ![fortytwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f9ae1b/32.png) [@fortytwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fortytwo)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-the-three-gorges-dam-in-china/270728/4 "2004-10-24T19:31:29Z")
I read some of the background from the above cite ( I think it’s about as long as War and Peace), and this snippet gives a projected finishing date of 2011. > [@](#): > > The construction of the dam, begun in September 1994, will take 17 years from its inception, proceeding in three stages. When the dam is completed, it will have a height, or crest, of 185 meters, placing it somewhat higher than the Golden Gate Bridge. In the early phase of operation, during the third phase of construction, the water level in the reservoir region will be 135 meters, and the final Normal Pool Level, or highest level, will be 175 meters I’m not sure if it’s all going to plan though. ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_B.Phart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Capt\_B.Phart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_B.Phart)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-the-three-gorges-dam-in-china/270728/5 "2004-10-24T19:56:30Z")
> [@liirogue](#): > > Thanks **Adam**. I’m surprised at the lack of up-to-date info available, really. You’ll probably not hear much about [this one](http://www.rense.com/general58/ceri.htm) either. > [@](#): > > Chinese developers are operating in secret to push through a massive dam project that will wash away the section of the Yangtze river valley thought to have been the real location for the fictional Shangri-La… > > …The battle to save the gorge, one of the deepest in the world, has pitted a David-like alliance of green groups and local tribespeople against the Goliath of the Huaneng Group, China’s biggest independent power producer, working with the Yunnan provincial government. > The company is run by Li Xiaopeng, son of the hardline former prime minister Li Peng, who oversaw the massacre at Tiananmen Square. Mr Li was at the forefront of the controversial Three Gorges Dam project that was pushed through in the teeth of strident opposition from environmentalists and residents. Hmm… I wonder who’s going to win that one…