Largest concrete dam
Quién
Three Gorges Dam
Dónde
China continental ()
Cuándo
2005
The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River, China, which was officially begun on 14 December 1994 and operational from 2005, has a concrete volume of 14.86 million m³ (525 million ft³) for the dam cross-section. It is 2,335 m (7,661 ft) long, with the top of the dam reaching 185 m (607 ft) above sea level. The Three Gorges Dam project as a whole, including the dam proper, power stations, transportation, diversions, and the construction of other related buildings, totals 27.47 million m³ (970.3 million ft³), according to official figures available in April 2012.
The project is reported to have cost more than any other single construction project in history, with unofficial estimates as high as US$75 billion or more. The dam serves the functions of flood control, power generation and navigation. The above figures, taken from the official publication on the project titled “Yangtze River: The Three Gorges Dam Project (Technology)”, do not include the volume of structures whose construction was still under way. These include 129,300 m³ for power supply stations, 576,400 m³ for underground power stations along the right bank of the Yangtze River, and the construction of a shiplift which started in October 2008, as well as the projected use of 244,000 m³ of concrete in 2012. Inall, the Three Gorges Dam project is expected to exceed 28.42 million m³.