Gezhou Dam, Yichang

The massive Gezhou Dam is located on the Yangzi River, northwest of Yichang. It is part of the Three Gorges Dam construction project, which is the largest hydroelectric project ever undertaken in China.

Gezhou Dam was completed in 1988 and is 2.6km (1.6 miles) long and 70 meters (230ft) high. The lake created by the dam is 32km (20 miles) long and has a total storage capacity of 1.6 billion cubic meters. A 2nd and larger Three Gorges Dam is under construction 30km (19 miles) upstream from Yichang.

Gezhou Dam's status as China's largest hydroelectric dam has of course been definitively toppled with the completion of the Three Gorges Dam in 2007, as the latter is now not only China's largest, but the world's largest hydroelectric dam. Still, as part of this fascinating stretch of the mighty Yangtze River, Yichang's Gezhou Dam and nearby Xiling Gorge will forever remain noteworthy tourist sites.

The major components of Gezhou Dam are its power stations and its shiplocks and sluices for permitting the passage of ships up and down the Yangtze. There are shiplocks for the usual variety of tonnage categories, i.e., from those for lighter craft to those designed for the passage of heavy ships carrying massive loads. Gezhou Dam generates 15.7 billion KWH of electricity annually, divided over two power stations and 21 generators. One of the power stations straddles the river's main flow, or stream, while the other straddles the river's secondary stream.