Gorges Project Research Articles

Water quality assessment in Lake Dongting(2002-2004), China

根据2002-2004年洞庭湖水质监测数据,参照GB3838-2002中Ⅲ类水质标准,选用内梅罗水污染指数法和黄浦江污染指数对洞庭湖水质现状进行评价,结果表明:(1)洞庭湖水体的主要污染指标是总磷,总氮和粪大肠菌群;(2)黄浦江污染指数平均值为0.27,所以洞庭湖12个断面水质无黑臭现象发生;(3)枯水期西洞庭湖和南洞庭湖水质污染最严重,平水期西洞庭湖水质污染最严重,洞庭湖丰水期的污染程度小于平水期;(4)洞庭湖的大部分水体的水质主要处于轻度污染的状态,局部水体的水质在枯水期达到重污染的状态.;According to Basic Analytical Methods of Environmental Quality Standards for Surface Water in China (GB3838-2002)，we used the 2002-2004 monitoring data to evaluate and characterize water quality condition of Lake Dongting, based on the application of comprehensive index methods such as Nemerow Index and Huangpu River Organic Pollution Index. The results are obtained as follows ： (1 ) The main pollutants of Lake Dongting are total phosphorus (TP)，total nitrogen (TN) and fecal coliform. (2) The mean Huangpu River Organic Pollution Index is 0. 27, indicating that the water quality does not have the black smelly phenomenon at twelve designated sections in Lake Dongting. (3) In western and southern Lake Dongting, the water pollution could be more serious during the drought water season, whereas during the normal water season in western Lake Dongting the water pollution is also bad. The water quality are generally better during the flood water season than those during normal water season. (4) Pollutants make a great contribution to the water quality of Lake Dongting； and the main sources are industrial effluents and domestic sewage. (5) The pollution condition of the main lake are not serious during 2002 -2004, while in certain water areas heavy pollution condition may occur during the drought water season. The investigations suggest that lake water quality has improved in recent years in response to changes in the land restoration of reclaimed areas and the construction of the Three Gorges Project.

Resettlement Programmes and Environmental Capacity in the Three Gorges Dam Project

This contribution looks at the Three Gorges dam project, and specifically at the resettlement programme, focusing on two major aspects. It examines the resettlement programme in relation to the environmental capacity in the reservoir area; and it assesses the existence of a risk consciousness and a reconstruction strategy, seen in terms of the ‘impoverishment risks and reconstruction’ (IRR) model. The author argues that issues related to the environment and natural resources are highly significant and have led to changes in the resettlement programme, including a change in policy towards moving rural people out of the reservoir area, as well as the issuing of new resettlement regulations. The IRR model is a useful tool to identify risks and can serve as a guide to the reconstruction of livelihoods for the resettled people. The limitations of using the model in the Three Gorges project concern specific Chinese environmental, social, economic and political conditions that influence efficient resettlement implementation. The Chinese authorities’ emphasis in resettlement has been on rebuilding relocatees’ livelihoods: it focuses less — if at all — on the social aspects and the social trauma of broken networks. The IRR model could therefore be useful in the context of focusing more on the social costs of resettlement.

Impacts of the TGP project on the Yangtze River ecology and management strategies

TGP project ‐ the Three Gorges Project on the Yangtze River ‐ is the largest hydro‐project in China. This paper outlines the environmental and ecological impacts of the project. Cumulative sedimentation in the reservoir will reach an equilibrium in 100 years with a total volume about 16 billion m3. The planned Xiangjiaba and Xiluodu reservoirs, which will be located at 1020 km and 1180 km upstream of the TGP dam, can be used to trap sediment and thus reduce the sedimentation rate of TGP reservoir in the first 90 years. Experimental studies showed that impoundment of TGP reservoir will cause sediment deposition at the apron of the Chongqing harbor and even change the stem flow from the west channel to the east channel. Building spur dykes and groins to regulate the flow can solve the problem. Calculation with 1‐D models show that the released water from the dam will scour 2.5 billion tons of sediment from the downstream channels in 40 years, which will result in channel degradation. The flood stage will then be reduced by about 3 m at Shashi and 0.75 m at Wuhan for a flood of discharge 30,000 m3/s. Studies indicate that the reservoir will not necessarily cause earthquakes, but will induce more landslides, which will threaten little the safety of the dam. It is reported that the impoundment of the reservoir so far has not obviously affected the water quality. The reservoir operation will change the hydrologie conditions, which may affect the life cycle and habitats of fishes and reduce the fishery harvest. The regulation of the flow for power generation and flood control may change the fluvial processes and some meandering and braided sections may become unstable, which will undermine the habitats of some endangered species. The longer the time of channel bed stability, the more species of benthic invertebrate may live and propagate on the riverbed. The number of benthic invertebrate will reduce because the erosion and sedimentation will make the channel bed unstable. New resettlement policy has been implemented with overall arrangements for production and living conditions for the emigrants. The farmland to be inundated would be about 23,000 hectares. Experiments in the reservoir area indicate that about 27,000 barren slope‐land may be transformed into a terraced citrus orchard and it is able to turn out an output value equal to as much as those by the inundated land.

Development, Land-use Change and Rural Resettlement Capacity: a case study of the Three Gorges Project, China

Resettlement of people displaced by dam projects is an important development issue. Land lost due to the Three Gorges reservoir inundation and the adjustment of land-use policy in China resulted in land-use changes, and impacted on the human carrying capacity of the land and the land availability for resettlement. The Chinese government has implemented a ‘development-oriented resettlement’ policy and a ‘near resettlement’ approach to relocating rural dwellers affected by the Three Gorges Project (TGP). Based on recent land-use survey and population data of the case study area and using GIS-based multi-criteria analysis in land-use planning, this study analyses the characteristics and changes of land use in both the inundation and resettlement areas. Undeveloped land is scarce in both areas. The non-flooded cultivated land is distributed mainly on steep slopes (over 25 degrees). There is a discrepancy between the amount of land required by those being resettled and what is available in the designated resettlement communities. This study suggests that resettlement should consider the human carrying capacity of the land and, from a community standpoint, sheds light on the interplay between land-use planning and resettlement, and provides constructive suggestions for TGP resettlement strategies.

Rural Women, Displacement and the Three Gorges Project

AbstractBased on empirical research, this article examines the status, situations and development issues of rural women displaced by the monumental Three Gorges Project (TGP) in China. The study reveals that TGP resettlement is leaving women worse off as family members, as well as worse off than male members. Woman resettlers are more likely to become impoverished than men, partly because women make up the main labour force in agricultural sectors. Most women are unable to achieve occupational mobility in the process of resettlement. Fewer employment opportunities, a gender‐segregated labour market, low level of human capital and social prejudice are principal causes. Land provision for resettlers is inadequate with a lower quality of productivity. Marriage is a means for some women to remain in or move to the reservoir area to improve their socio‐economic status, but bias against granting of ‘resettler’ status to married women and their generally low levels of education and lack of occupational skills work against them. It is imperative that the authorities integrate a gender perspective into policy‐making and design of resettlement schemes.

The method of design for seismic data database system based on tree structure

With the massive growth of the seismic data, it is required a new method to manage them. In this paper, the design method will be reported about relational database based on tree structure. Comparing with other designs, it is not only simpler and easier to organize data, but also can simplify the design process of the database. This method has been used to design database of the earthquake monitor center station of the earthquake monitoring system for the Yangtze River Three Gorges Project and has shown good results.

Ecological Approaches to Urban Migration of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region

Abstract With the approach of the second water storage of the Three Gorges Project, urban migration has become a great concern. However, being influenced by economical, social or other factors, ecological problems have apparently become pressing. All these problems are exerting great impact upon the speed and quality of new city's or town's construction. By means of ecology, urban ecology, landscape ecology, human settlement science as well as the principle of sustainable development, this paper analyzes the ecological problems in urban migration, and the corresponding approaches in order to promote ecological environment construction of new cities and give an impetus to sustainable development of the whole human settlements in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region.

Application of rock prestressed anchor cable in Three Gorges project

Application of rock prestressed anchor cable in Three Gorges project

Experimental and numerical seismic investigations of the Three Gorges dam

The Three Gorges dam project in China is the largest water conservancy project ever built in the world and is also currently the world’s largest construction project [China Yangtze Three Gorges Project Cooperation. A brief introduction on the Three Gorges project on the Yangtze River; 1999. http://www.nickdw.com/3-gorges/DOCS/1999.htm]. A seismic analysis of the powerhouse monolith of the Three Gorges dam is performed through model testing at a geometric scale of 1:100 on a shaking table and numerical simulation using a three-dimensional finite element model of the structure. It is observed from this combined experimental and numerical study that the powerhouse monolith has a relatively high capability for earthquake resistance and satisfies the seismic design requirements of the national code of China [Ministry of Hydraulics and Hydroelectrics. National standard of the People’s Republic of China SDJ10-78: seismic design code of hydraulic structures; 1978]. This study also shows that the seismic responses calculated from the three-dimensional finite element model are in good agreement with those obtained from the model test on the shaking table for the case of an empty reservoir and rigid foundation. The outcome of this study should be of interest and use to professionals involved in the design of large gravity dams.

Applying a cost-benefit analysis model to the Three Gorges project in China

The world's largest hydro project is now under construction in China. It is controversial as large environmental and social impacts are anticipated, although it is supposed to control the region's severe floods, to generate 18.2 GW of hydropower, and to improve river navigation. This study employs a quantitative approach to bring the major economic, environmental and social impacts of this massive project together. This comprehensive probabilistic cost-benefit analysis (CBA) model takes into account the project uncertainty, and its empirical application tries to deliver more robust and justifiable results than those produced by the more usual deterministic CBAs or multi-criteria analyses. This allows the distribution of the net present value to be calculated, and the most significant impacts to be identified. The mean and the 95th percentile of the cumulative net present value at a 5% discount rate estimated by the model will be positive, while the 5th percentile will be negative.

Global quality assessment of rock works for permanent shiplock of the Three Gorges Project on Yangtze River, China

This paper presents a global assessment of the quality of the engineering works associated with rock excavation for the construction of the permanent shiplock of the Three Gorges Project (TGP). The shiplock was constructed between 1995 and 1999 by open and deep excavation in a mountain comprising weathered and fresh granite. Since the shiplock is the main navigation structure for ships to pass through the Three Gorges Dam after the dam is completed, it is prudent to summarize the experience and information obtained during the design and construction of the engineering works associated with rock excavation. This paper adopts the meta-synthesis theory (MST) to quantitatively assess the global quality of such engineering works in rocks. The paper presents a detailed discussion along with summative data on the rock conditions, the engineering measures and the monitored performance for this quality assessment. The assessment results show that the global quality of the rock engineering works in rocks can be rated as very good and that the rock excavation and stabilization measures can basically meet the high design standards and requirements of the permanent shiplock.

Modeling non-linear displacement time series of geo-materials using evolutionary support vector machines

Evaluation of the non-linear deformation behavior of geo-materials is an important aspect of the safety assessment for geotechnical engineering in complex conditions. This paper presents a novel machine learning method, termed support vector machine (SVM), to obtain a global optimization model in conditions of large project dimensions, small sample sizes and non-linearity. A new idea is put forward to combine the SVM with a genetic algorithm. The method has been used in the analysis of the high rock slope of the permanent shiplock of the Three Gorges Project and the horizontal deformation at depth in the Bachimen landslide in Fujian Province, China. The 92 non-linear SVMs in total were constructed with their kernel functions and the parameters were recognized using a genetic algorithm. The results indicate that the established SVMs can appropriately describe the evolutionary law of deformation of geo-materials at depth and provide predictions for the future 6–10 time steps with acceptable accuracy and confidence.

Interpretation of the monitored rock bolt stress and rock mass displacement at the three Gorges Project in China

Interpretation of the monitored rock bolt stress and rock mass displacement at the three Gorges Project in China

Stability analysis of the permanent shiplock slopes of the three gorges project

Stability analysis of the permanent shiplock slopes of the three gorges project

Study on the Joint Open Deformation Using Joint Interface Element in the Shiplock of the Three Gorges Project

In light of the open deformation of joints in the middle isolated pier of the permanent shiplocks of Three Gorges Project(TGP), a typically simplified joint model is set up based on the geological conditions and the crack investigation. The method of joint interface element is used to analyze the joint open deformation and study the characteristic of open joints. The results show that the open deformation and the open length of joints are directly related to their occurrence and geometrical character.

The Three Gorges Project on the Yangtze River in China

ABSTRACT Despite global concern about the desirability of building mega-dams, the big dam ideology is still alive and well in China. On 1 June 2003 the reservoir for the Three Gorges project on the Yangtze River, the largest water conservancy project in the world, should have started to fill and the scheme is scheduled to be fully operational by 2009. The potential of the site was noted in the early 1920s, and although conditional approval was given by the Chinese govemment in the late 1950s (Mao was a keen advocate of the project), it took more than 30 years/or the project to come to fruition. During a protracted planning phase the Chinese leaders received conflicting advice from different government bureaucracies. The development of the project bas been fiercely contested both inside and outside China. As far as its critics are concerned it is a social and environmental disaster in the making, with the threat of siltation, increased pollution, irrevocable damage to the scenery of the Three Gorges, further threats to many endangered species, some already facing extinction, and the loss of valuable cultural antiquities and historical sites. Tbe enforced resettlement of nearly 1.5 million people is already proving to be a problem,. Its proponents are equally adamant that it will bring major advantages to the middle and lower Yangtze Valley, notably the removal of the threat of flooding, cheap renewable energy, improved navigation, improved water supply and the transfer of water to North China. The issues are complex and this article seeks to investigate some of the contesting claims of the protagonists.

Interpretation of the monitored rock bolt stress and rock mass displacement at the three gorges project in China

Interpretation of the monitored rock bolt stress and rock mass displacement at the three gorges project in China

Stability analysis of the permanent shiplock slopes of the Three Gorges Project

The paper outlines a new constitutive model and its numerical implementation for the mechanical behaviour of semicrystalline polymers. Essential for the constitutive model is a homogenization approach that makes use of a representative mesostructure (RMS) and of the micromechanical description of the two characteristic phases of semicrystalline polymers, the amorphous and the crystalline phase. A homogenization approach is used to characterise the macroscopic element by extracting the macroscale characteristics of the material from the results of a microscale boundary value problem. For the microscopic amorphous constitutive model, a new evolution law is introduced for the athermal shear stress to the constitutive model proposed by Miehe et al. (2009), who developed a constitutive formulation for amorphous polymers in the logarithmic strain space. For the microscopic crystalline model, the approach proposed by Simo (1988a), who numerically implemented an algorithm for plasticity for crystalline materials, is transformed into a logarithmic kinematical framework. The modelling capability of the proposed formulation is verified by comparison of numerical simulations to experimental investigations carried out by the Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung (IPF) Dresden. The experiments were performed on isotactic polypropylene (iPP) and the mechanical tensile and compression tests were carried out at different temperatures. The model is also used for quasi-static (QS) and dynamic (DY) simulations of an iPP car bumper.

Sediment studies and management strategies in China

Sediment management is always most challenging in the hydraulic engineering on sediment‐laden rivers. Chinese people have accumulated abundant experiences in solving the problems like watershed erosion, heavily sediment‐laden rivers, reservoir sedimentation, estuarine and coastal sedimentation, and debris flows and control strategies. This paper summarizes the sediment issues, research approaches and management strategies. The paper outlines a vision for the future sediment research in the new century, especially reporting on an ambitious plan of validation of sediment studies performed for the Three Gorges Project. The need for multidisciplinary approaches to conducting research is also discussed.

A sophisticated node-pair model for interface problems

Based on the virtual work principle of interface problems, this paper presents an innovative finite element solution for interface problems by mixing nodal contact forces with nodal displacements. The proposed mixed finite element solution can overcome some numerical difficulties encountered in the analysis of contact problems in geomechanics. These difficulties include contact of large area, non-smooth contact, alleviation of ill-condition and treatment of rigid displacements. The well-posed issue of the formulation and a criterion for judging collapse of the system are also discussed in detail. The paper then presents two simple examples and a very challenging example from the shiplock of the Three Gorges Project in construction. These examples illustrate that the proposed mixed finite element solution is robust and suitable for solving interface problems encountered in geomechanics.