Over the last few decades the People’s Republic of China has been transformed by a number of impressive technological megaprojects (Table 1). These are intended to sustain its high levels of economic growth at 8–10% and cope with the increasing threats of energy and water security. The flagship scheme and symbol of China’s emerging superpower status over the past 20 years has been the Three Gorges dam.
Although the blueprint of the Three Gorges dam was discussed by Chairman Mao in the 1950s, construction of the dam did not begin until the 1990s. Building of the dam started after a number of devastating floods in the Yangtze drainage basin over the preceding years (Table 2). The dam was intended to:
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