Gledden Tour 1998
Three Gorges Dam Model

After a reasonably long bus ride out into some fairly empty snow-clad countryside, we arrived at what appeared to be a farm complex of a few small buildings and a single overlarge shed. This was the home of a scale model of the Three Gorges dam project and its immediate surrounds. The model was used in the culmination of a multi-decade research project determining the hydrodynamic parameters of the constructed dam.

The subwall visible behind the dam itself is submerged when the dam has been completed and serves to prevent the accumulation of silt immediately against the main dam wall where it could interfere with the operation of the hydroelectric generators.

This front view of the dam shows the flow of water through the dam control channels and down the spillway. Although the model of the main dam does not show it clearly, additional channels to the left of the dam (looking downstream) will be built to accommodate passenger and freight vessels away from the turbulent flow immediately in front of the dam.

The model includes several kilometres of modelled surrounding countryside. As close as it is to one of China's major rivers, the consistent brown color is probably not representative of the land before the dam is completed. Putting aesthetic objections aside momentarily, these hills are the site of at least one village. The flooding of the model dam and surrounds highlights the fate of several square kilometres of land upstream.

When we first arrived at the model, the dam model was completely dry. The people working on the model were kind enough to treat visiting engineering students from a distant (and warmer) country as visiting dignitaries and to start up the water supply. The water first appeared as a trickle through the river valley but soon rose to engulf much of the surrounding countryside.

The water supply for the dam model was an impressively large stream started by one of the model operators turning a large valve wheel. The loose brick wall in front of the water source turned the roiling water into a steady stream closer to that provided by the upstream part of the river.

The views of the river as a small stream were taken from the water source looking downstream towards the dam, the flooded countryside is a shot from the dam itself looking upstream.

Below are two shots of the floodplain protected by the dam. The separate shipping channel is visible to the left of the frame while the water from the generators and floodgates is released into the main channel.

As we wandered out the building with the model dam, the final destination of all the water that was running through the dam moved into view. The picture of the huge drain below doesn't fully do justice to the rush of water pouring through the grating. It did give a small hint of the amount of water that would eventually be moving through the Three Gorges dam project. The leafy vegetables surrounding the water outflow are the corners of a few hundred cabbages laid out on the floor of the building. There was almost probably a good reason for them to be there.