AQA Geography Hard Engineering

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Case Study: Hard Engineering - Three Gorges Dam, China
- Social
  - 14 million homeless
  - Forced resettlement of 1.3 million people
  - Improved navigation along river - useful for trade
  - Community and history disappears -2300 years worth
- Economic
  - Reservoir behind dam £25 billion.
  - Reduced risk of flooding for 15 million.
  - Need for maintenance.
  - Sediment build-up needing dredging.
  - 85 Billion kilowatts created.
- Political
  - Withstand earthquakes
  - No flooding and less problems for future
  - Expensive& a lot of work
- Environmental
  - Deforestation (3000 acres), land slides and animals disturbed
  - Farmland and tourists attractions destroyed
  - Reservoir 100m high, 2.3 km long
  - Increased downstream erosion
  - Toxins - 16,000 factories
  - Generate electricity from HEP for Central an Eastern China
    - Clean energy - no fossil fuels
  - Between1998-2004 sediment transport fell by 50%
- WHAT?
  - Banks/ channel modification - strengthened and raise artificially
  - Retention basin + balance lakes divert when high discharge
  - Dredging - make deeper channel (greater volume allowed pass)
  - Diversion channels - send away from flood risk areas
  - Dams + Weirs to regulate water
Sediment build-up needing dredging.
Economic
- Reservoir behind dam £25 billion.
- Reduced risk of flooding for 15 million.
- Need for maintenance.
- 85 Billion kilowatts created.

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