Gezhou Dam lies within the municipal boundaries of the city Yichang of Hubei Province and is situated in the Xiling Gorge. This dam was completed in the year 1980 and was largest hydroelectric dam of china which controlled the water volume of about half of the total capacity of Yangtze.
Gezhou Dam is about 2560 meter across and 70 meters in height. It has a depth or the thickness of wall about 30 meters. It was an enormous construction project and due to its dimension it has attracted the attention worldwide and also boosted the tourist industry of that area although the Three Gorges dam is itself a more stellar project and it also belongs to the same overarching flood control and power generating plan for the part of the Yangtze river like Gezhou Dam itself.
Gezhou Dam
Before the construction of Three Gorges Dam in the year 2007, Gezhou dam was the largest hydroelectric dam in china but now the former is the china’ largest hydroelectric dam. But, still you can enjoy the fascinating stretch of Yangtze River, nearby Xiling Gorge and Yichuang’s Gezhou Dam which are the forever noteworthy tourist sites.
The major components of this dam are its shiplocks, power stations and sluices for permitting the passages up and down to the Yangtze River. The shiplocks are for the variety of tonnage categories and some for heavy ships which carry the massive loads. One of the power stations is on the main flow or stream of the river while the other is on the secondary stream of the river.
Gezhou Dam
This dam project in its time took about 10 years to complete and involve the removal of more than 113 million cubic meters of stones and earth which when put together will be enough stone and earth for the construction of a large mountain. This project attracts the tourist from the world wide and its magnificent floodgate has a compelling image beholding the massive flow of the water of Yangtze River spilling over the turbines of the dam creating rolling torrents that roar with the sounds of the thunder.