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preface
A thousand-ton cargo ship greeted them, and then the "rumbling" sound was heard, raising the rolling blue wave river water. The moment the locks rose, the freighter took the elevator.
Maybe tens of seconds, maybe a few minutes, the freighter will once again ride on the blue waves, from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River to the downstream... Time is short, as if it were a moment.
But everyone who has walked through here has expressed heartfelt amazement, this is China, this is the real world-class project.
Even the foreigners who think they have seen the world can't help but stick out their thumbs and praise loudly: "This is worthy of being a 'infrastructure demon'.
This is the Three Gorges Dam!
Nowadays, in the eyes of the world, what we see more is the grandeur of the Three Gorges Dam, and its economic interests that are higher than one year.
But few people remember that as early as the beginning of the construction of the Three Gorges Dam in 1994, the nine top experts who held their own opinions and publicly refused to sign the certificate.
Discuss the preparation of the Three Gorges Dam
One day in July 1980, Deng Xiaoping had just finished inspecting the construction site in Gezhouba.
He boarded a boat from Chongqing and went all the way down the river, drifting across the Qutang Gorge and over the Wuxia Gorge.
The passenger ship passed through the Xiling Gorge in the course of a thousand turns. The turbulent river roared angrily, and the waves slammed into the rocks, setting off a splash of water; The passenger ship is swinging violently, breaking through one dangerous shoal after another, and floating smoothly on the river.
Looking at the Yangtze River behind him, which resembled a long dragon, an idea quietly appeared in Deng Xiaoping's mind.
"Three Gorges Dam, is it time to start construction?"
As soon as the passenger ship arrived in Wuhan, Deng Xiaoping gathered several local leaders together to discuss issues related to the Three Gorges Project.
The Yangtze River, a mother river that has given birth to countless Chinese children. But whenever she launched her own "little temper", the terrible flood that was wrapped up also swept away thousands of living lives.
To this day, when it comes to the great flood in 1954, the old people living on both sides of the Yangtze River are still afraid and frightened, as if they were the next day.
92 days of continuous rain have made the whole hubei province a zealous country. The sudden flood, like thousands of troops and horses, was unstoppable, turning the Jingchu land into a land ocean.
In Hubei Province alone, more than 20 million mu of fertile land were flooded, nearly 10 million people were injured, and more than 30,000 people were swallowed up by the flood.
In the more than 2,000 years from the beginning of the Han Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were as many as 214 recorded flood disasters in the Yangtze River Basin, that is, on average, there was a struggle between people and the Yangtze River every 10 years.
Such a great river, when put into good use, is a gift from heaven to the Chinese nation, and if you blindly go with nature, you will continue to bear the pain it brings.
The primary purpose of the Three Gorges Dam is to prevent floods.
However, with the development of the times, water conservancy projects are no longer limited to flood control and irrigation of farmland.
If you give the Yangtze River a general gate, you have the ability to regulate the river water, and you will also improve the shipping capacity of the Yangtze River.
The cargo loaded from the Shanghai wharf can go up the river to Chongqing, which greatly shortens the shipping time. And in exchange for economic benefits.
In addition, after the completion of the Three Gorges Dam, there is a more huge role, that is, hydropower.
In the early 1980s, economic construction was in full swing and had spread all over China.
However, the lack of power supply has become an important factor restricting economic development, and thermal power generation is not only inefficient, high cost, and extremely polluting.
If hydropower projects can be built on the Yangtze River, the entire Yangtze River Basin will no longer worry about lack of electricity.
From this point of view, once the Three Gorges Dam is built, its role is enormous.
The construction of a dam on the Yangtze River is by no means as easy as imagined. After some discussion, the relevant departments still sent a team of experts to conduct a field investigation of the Three Gorges and demonstrate the feasibility of the plan from a scientific point of view.
In the blink of an eye, more than a year has passed, and the team in charge of the survey has also brought back the results.
After listening to the relevant reports, Deng Xiaoping breathed a long sigh of relief, he did not say too much, but said a sentence in a categorical manner:
"When you see it, you make up your mind and don't waver."
The design work of the Three Gorges Project began. After considering many actual situations, the water conservancy department put forward a feasibility report on the construction of a dam with a height of 165 meters, a water level of 150 meters, and a low dam plan, which was immediately adopted.
The construction of the Three Gorges Dam is within easy reach and could be started at any time.
As soon as the news came out, it immediately attracted attention at home and abroad. Western countries have been questioning whether they could undertake such a huge scale of engineering projects with the technical level and economic strength of the country at that time.
After all, as early as 40 years ago, the US water conservancy expert group was invited to inspect the Yangtze River and proposed a feasible plan for building a dam on the Yangtze River, but it was later lost for many reasons.
This time, when they learned that China was going to build it, they naturally began to wonder whether the Three Gorges Project, which was eager to start at this time, had not undergone scientific demonstration, and whether it was a face-saving project that would cost the people money and the benefits outweighed the disadvantages.
Hong Kong's "Oriental Daily" is even more surprising, directly writing in relevant news reports:
"As long as the enemy comes with one or two missiles, it will destroy the Three Gorges Reservoir and submerge the provinces and cities in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River."
At this time, in the face of questions from Western countries, Deng Xiaoping gave a strong and powerful counterattack when he met with Fu Zhaoshu, chairman of the US "Zhongpao" newspaper.
"For Chinese, the Three Gorges Project is a major event that has a bearing on thousands of generations. Only after thorough consideration, full consideration, and finding a plan with the greatest benefits and the least disadvantages, will it be decided to start construction. ”
As for the doubts of the Oriental Daily, it can be said that it is even more unfounded.
Since 1918, when Dr. Sun Yat-sen first proposed the development of three gorges water conservancy resources, Chinese research on the three gorges project has never stopped.
After the founding of New China, the study of the Three Gorges Project was also a top priority. In 959, Premier Zhou Enlai had already given instructions to begin studying the air defense tests of the Three Gorges Project.
The research results of more than two decades have shown that one or two missiles are not to be feared for the Three Gorges Project. If the water level is maintained at 145 meters, even if the dam collapses, it will not have much impact on the surrounding area of the Three Gorges.
Unless the water level is 175 meters and the enemy is using atomic bombs, perhaps some areas will inevitably be flooded, causing inevitable losses to the lives and property of the surrounding people.
At this time, China and the beginning of the founding of New China are no longer the same, and we also have nuclear bombs in our own hands. No country in the world will launch a nuclear war against a nuclear power.
Nine experts refused to sign
If we say that the focus of foreign countries on the Three Gorges Project revolves around "construction or non-construction"; Experts in related fields in China are very different from their ideas.
The Three Gorges Dam must be built, but there has been a debate on the question of "whether to build it immediately or slowly."
After all, the construction of a dam on the main stream of the Yangtze River is not only a matter of how much it costs, the technical difficulty is too large, the project period is too long, and more importantly, it also involves hundreds of thousands of immigrants and sediment treatment, the ecological environment around the Yangtze River and the protection of cultural relics and monuments, etc., many realities that are difficult to solve for a while.
To this end, Sun Yueqi, the founder of China's modern energy industry and 92 years old at the time, led 9 old experts with an average age of more than 70 years old to Sichuan.
They went all the way down the river and once again conducted a 38-day investigation of the Three Gorges reservoir area. After returning to Beijing, he immediately submitted an investigation report to the relevant departments on the "Three Gorges Project Cannot Be Launched in the Near Future."
The report pointed out that there are problems in the design and budget estimates of the Three Gorges Project.
Sun Yueqi and members of the investigation team unanimously held that with regard to the Three Gorges Project, we should draw on the relevant experience of Western countries and adopt a long-term planning plan of "easy first, then difficult, and graded development."
At about the same time, the Chongqing municipal party committee also submitted a report, they recommended that the 150-meter water level of the dam be raised to 180 meters.
Because after field analysis, the 150-meter dam, although it has a certain effect on flood control, can only improve the waterway below Fuling in Sichuan, and has almost no effect on the waterway around Chongqing Port, and the silt accumulation will have a further impact.
A debate about whether to "build immediately or slowly", whether to adopt the "low dam plan or the middle dam plan", was immediately buzzing.
First, an article titled "Research on the Impact of the Three Gorges Project on the Estuary should be Paid Attention to" was thrown in the "Science Newspaper" to ask for directions, which attracted the discussion of relevant experts in many fields.
The first to speak out was the famous plant ecologist Hou Xueyu.
He held that the Three Gorges Project is not only a great project that has attracted worldwide attention, but also a major event that concerns future generations.
From a macro point of view, once the Three Gorges Project is landed, it will have a chain reaction on the ecosystem of the entire Yangtze River Basin.
Therefore, with regard to the Three Gorges Project, we must maintain a scientific attitude and not make perfunctory remarks such as "little impact."
Subsequently, different views were expressed on the issue of silt accumulation and improved shipping.
These opinions, which come from different fields but are extremely professional, have also attracted great attention from the central authorities.
"The low dam plan is not good, the middle dam plan is good, we always have to leave some good things for future generations." Deng Xiaoping spoke again.
After some demonstration, the relevant departments finally confirmed that the middle dam plan was built with a dam height of 185 meters and a normal water storage level of 175 meters. However, this decision also brought geometric multiples of difficulty to the entire project.
The total number of immigrants, from the original plan of 300,000, suddenly soared to 1.13 million. It is estimated that the investment budget of more than 20 billion yuan has also soared to more than 50 billion yuan, and with the addition of inflation and interest, the total budget has even exceeded 100 billion.
However, during the predictable construction period of nearly 20 years, there seems to be no return.
Suddenly, the wave of opposition to the immediate release of the Three Gorges Dam was higher than the wave. More and more people are beginning to question whether the advantages of building the Three Gorges Dam at this time outweigh the disadvantages or the disadvantages outweigh the benefits.
To this end, the relevant departments have to recertify the feasibility of the "middle dam plan" of the Three Gorges Dam.
In June 1986, the water conservancy department invited 412 experts from 17 departments under the State Council, 12 research institutes under the Chinese Academy, and 28 universities and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
After dividing this group into 14 groups, a re-demonstration of the feasibility of the Three Gorges Dam began.
This nearly three-year argument finally led to the adoption of the final report at the Ninth Enlarged Meeting in November 1988.
It was also this meeting that pushed the debate over whether the Three Gorges Project should be launched immediately to the pinnacle.
The most representative is the 9 experts who refused to sign the report, and Hou Xueyu, mentioned above, is one of them.
Hou Lao was already 76 years old that year, and as a top expert in the field of ecological botany, his concerns were not unfounded.
Chinese has always believed in "relying on mountains to eat mountains and relying on water to draft water". The Three Gorges reservoir area is densely populated, and after the completion of the dam, it is bound to have an impact on the lives of the surrounding masses.
At that time, the two sides of the Yangtze River were not like today's factories, and all walks of life were full of vitality. The vast majority of local villagers either live by the river or guard the acre and three points of land.
Once the living space is squeezed, it is bound to force them to find a new way out on the hillside, deforestation and reclamation of slopes.
In this way, it will not only cause damage to the fragile ecological environment of the Three Gorges reservoir area, but also very likely to accelerate soil erosion, so as to trigger a series of secondary disasters.
With the same concerns as Hou Xueyu, chen Changdu, then a professor at Peking University and one of the founders of mainland landscape ecology.
It is precisely for this reason that he, as a member of the ecological and environmental certification team at that time, did not sign.
He Gegao and Guo Laixi of the Comprehensive Economic Expert Group, as well as Li Yuguang, an expert from the argumentation group, also refused to sign the certificate.
The Three Gorges Project is too huge, it occupies too many funds, and the population that needs to be resettled accounts for as many as one million, which is unprecedented.
After all, at that time, the national strength was limited, and the engineering projects that urgently needed to be launched were one after another. Once the Three Gorges Project is launched, it is likely to squeeze the funds of other projects under construction.
The proper resettlement of more than one million migrants is the top priority in the project. Initially, the plan was to adopt measures for local resettlement within the district.
However, Guo Laixi and Li Yuguang also have concerns about this plan. Immigration is a two-way street. It is necessary to take into account the proper resettlement of the migrant population and the affordability of the people in the areas where they have moved in.
At that time, the demonstration team also gave a set of "development immigration" programs, but this set of programs had no practical experience. To be cautious, the three of them refused to sign.
If we say that these five experts are taking into account the ecological environment, cultural relics protection, and economic and people's livelihood issues derived from the start of the Three Gorges Project.
The four other experts who refused to sign the certificate focused on the Three Gorges Project: Fang Zongdai, Qin Xiudian, Wu Hongzhong, and Huang Yuanzhen.
Fang Zongdai is a famous sediment expert and one of the founders of the new China sediment science cause.
At the beginning of the planning and design of Sanmenxia and in the process of reconstruction, Fang Lao's suggestions played an extremely crucial role in solving the problem of silt accumulation.
But the Yangtze River is different, And Elder Fang pointed out that the sediment in the Three Gorges is mainly fine sand, coarse sand and pebbles, and the three are cemented together and difficult to discharge. Until there is sufficient scientific basis, he does not advocate the immediate launch of the Three Gorges Project.
Because once the sediment is silted up, it will not only cause shipping problems, but also greatly reduce the flood control capacity of the Three Gorges Dam. The estuary of the Yangtze River will also have a certain impact.
Because of the lack of data, it was impossible to accurately judge the real impact of silt accumulation on the Three Gorges Dam, and the cautious Fang Lao, in the end, did not sign his name on the certificate.
Equally cautious with Elder Fang was Qin Xiudian, one of the founders of the mainland's hydropower industry.
At the beginning of New China, almost every large hydropower station can be seen in the development of Qin Lao. In hydropower projects, Qin Lao is not only experienced, but also quite experienced.
At the beginning of the demonstration of the Three Gorges Project, Elder Qin always paid attention to it. He once pointed out in a written report that one of the important reasons for the inefficiency of hydropower projects on the mainland is the lack of scientific storage capacity.
When the flood season comes, the hydropower stations abandon a large number of water, so that during the dry period, the amount of water is seriously insufficient, resulting in a lack of electricity and load.
In his view, the mainland's hydropower projects should adopt the "first tributary, then the main stream, cascade development scheme.".
The project in the upper reaches of the Three Gorges is not yet complete, and the hasty construction of the Three Gorges Project is bound to affect the three gorges' ability to regulate and store. The estimated power generation capacity is very likely to fail to achieve the effect, and it is inevitable that there is a suspicion of "oversized and underused".
Therefore, Elder Qin did not advocate immediately getting on the horse. "It is not advisable to be in the morning and be big", this is Qin Lao's suggestion, and it is also the reason why he did not sign the certificate.
Similar to Qin Lao's views are two experts in water conservancy project construction, Wu Hongzhong and Huang Yuanzhen.
At this time, the Three Gorges Project is not only a people's livelihood issue, but also a political issue.
Of the 412 experts, 403 signed the certificate and 9 experts' opinions were retained.
Completion of the Three Gorges Dam
On December 14, 1994, 76 years have passed since Mr. Zhongshan first proposed to build water conservancy on the Yangtze River. Under the attention of the whole world, the Three Gorges Project has finally started.
After nearly 10 years of construction, the Three Gorges Dam has finally completed the first phase of the project.
In the early morning of June 1, 2003, the Three Gorges Dam was as bright as day, and the gushing water of the river poured into the dam area like a fierce tiger, instantly flooding thousands of acres of fields.
The houses that had long been empty became underwater cities. Liu Beitou's lonely White Emperor City became an isolated island, and the inscription of the White Crane Liang was also half hidden and half floating under the wash of the river.
The sound of the generator finally sounded on the Three Gorges Dam. But some people are more and more worried, is this a joy or a worry? After all, the concerns of those 9 experts are about to be put in front of us.
It is undeniable that at the beginning of the operation of the Three Gorges Dam, there were indeed some experts' hidden worries.
Although, the 9 experts refused to sign the certificate. However, at the beginning of the three gorges project, they did not ignore their opinions.
Immediately after the initial storage of water, the Three Gorges Group began to restore biodiversity and protect the environment.
In that year, the policy of no fishing period was launched in the Yangtze River Basin to ensure the diversity of organisms in the river. Not only that, but it has also increased the protection of water and soil in the reservoir area and the construction of a forest barrier around the reservoir.
The rare plants unique to the Three Gorges area have been properly arranged. One botanical garden after another, so that these animals and plants, have a better home.
The Chinese sturgeon, a creature that pinned the Chinese's good wishes for the Yangtze River, has also gained a new life under the technology of artificial breeding.
In 2021, 10,000 second-generation Chinese sturgeon returned to the Yangtze River through a unique release channel.
The problem of silt accumulation that Elder Fang was worried about did not appear, and the situation was much better than expected.
The Three Gorges Dam successfully intercepted the Yangtze River, forming a pool of clear water behind the dam, and the sediment carried by the upstream was reduced.
In the process of construction, the project also listened to the opinions of Elder Fang, and at the bottom of the dam, 22 diversion holes were reserved to eliminate the hidden worries of silt accumulation.
With the development and progress of the times, those cultural relics that are dormant under the water have also had new protection measures.
Today's White Emperor City is still a tourist attraction, and the White Crane Liang inscription is also known as "the only well-preserved ancient hydrological station in the world".
The power generation problem that Qin Lao was worried about did not occur.
In 2019, the Annual Power Generation capacity of the Three Gorges Power Station exceeded 100 billion kilowatts, solving the problem of electricity consumption in central China. It not only saves more than 30 million tons of coal, but also reduces carbon dioxide emissions by more than 90 million tons, supporting about 1.5 trillion yuan of GDP.
The Three Gorges Power Station has become the world's largest hydropower station with annual power generation.
On November 1, 2020, the Three Gorges Project, which has been built for more than 20 years, was finally completed as a whole and passed the acceptance of the relevant state departments.
In the foreseeable future, the Three Gorges Dam is bound to create higher economic benefits and solve those derived problems from a scientific point of view.
Time has passed, and these 9 highly respected experts have passed away.
Some people who are unclear will sometimes see the concerns of these 9 experts as a joke, even a kind of irony.
From another point of view, it was precisely their stubbornness and opinions that allowed the Three Gorges Project to be cautious in the process of construction, and from a scientific point of view, it was demonstrated again and again. Only now is the amazing Three Gorges Dam.
Although 9 experts did not sign in that year, they also deserved our respect.