The Three Gorges Dam(TGD); Will China Sink or Swim?

Onyemobi Walson MEng,Civil Eng., Level 3. Student No:08836256

BACKGROUND OF THE TGD AREA SITE GEOLOGY
Using explorations techniques geological mapping Bore hole drilling and Adit Shaft exploration/Acoustic emission Seismic Reflection/Refraction

HAZARD MITIGATIONS

GEOLOGICAL HAZARDS IN TGD AREA

Insert your text here. Landslides and other slope failures Destructive Waves in the River from Slope Failures Earthquakes and reservoir induced earthquakes Sediment problems
Fig.5:Rotational slide in Quaternary deposits, which devastated a village and the cultivated slopes around it. [4]

Fig.9:Installing corner reflectors for InSAR data to measure landslide deformations [5]

Fig. 1. Location of the Three-Gorges Project in China [1].source -: International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 40 (2003) 609631 (J. Liu et al.)

Located at; area of plagioclase granite of low permeability and high strength area with weathered zones , faults and gently dipping joints.

. Fig.3: Borehole core of the granite rock in the dam site (core diameter is 800 mm) [1]

TGD Area formed by incision along narrow fault zones of massive limestone mountains of lower Paleozoic and Mesozoic age.[6] development of steep slopes on extensive erodible materials leading to:

Fig.10: Riverbank Strengthening [5]

First proposal by Sun Yat-Sen in

1919 Granted permission in 1992 to begin construction. A concrete gravity dam. completed in 2009. became the worlds largest dam, located in Yangtze River / near 6 fault lines.(latitude (30.827 N 111.000 E) [2]. Costs over $25billion.

Table 1: stratigraphy of the TGD area [2]

Rock mass of lower Palaeozoic and Mesozoic age

Land slide translational rock and debris slide rotational slumps

Fig.11: Strengthening river banks with concrete, in anticipation of the rising water level [2].

ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS TO THE GEOLOGY [3]

Fig.6: The Yangtze river of the TGD rock mass and landslide [5] htp://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1241/pdf/OF08-1241_508.pdf Fig.4:Plan of the developed regions of gently dipping joints (with different densities) in the TGD foundation [1]. International Journal Of Rock Mechanics And Mining Sciences ,vol.40 (2003),p.609 639 (J. Liu et al.) h

1.Physical modelling test and 2.Numerical modelling including, Limit and Finite Element Models (FEM & LEM)

CONCLUSION
Two geological regions exists in the TGD area thus; limestone and GRANITE site Stability assessment of TGD foundation

Effect of Geology on the Project

Fig.2: Geological setting of the Three Gorges along the Yangtze River . The inset on the left shows an enlargement of the study area (Wushan, Badong and Zigui counties), with numbers indicating the location of major landslides.[3] http://qjegh.lyellcollection.org/content/40/2/115. full.pdf+html Date: 23/03/2012.

REFERENCES
[1] . International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 40 (2003) 609631 (J. Liu et al.). [2]. http://www.ctgpc.com/faq/01.php?NewsId=13196 [3].http://qjegh.lyellcollection.org/content/40/2/115.full.pdf+htm [4]. Zonation of the landslide hazards in the fore reservoir region of the TGP on the Yangtze River. Journal of Engineering Geology, vol. 59 (2001),p. 51-58. Fig.8: Sedimentation problem [5]. http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1241/pdf/OF08-1241_508.pdf blockage of the sluice gate leading to [6].http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~vanti20m/classweb/website/ho dam failure [5]. me.html

Difficulty in foundation design (due to the presence of granite) Potential Reservoir Induced Seismicity. Potential earthquake aggravation ( as Dam is located near 6 fault lines [7] [7]http://www.ibiblio.org/chinesehistory/conte Fig.7: profile of typical weathering of the granite in the nts/07spe/specrep01.html#Environmental TGD area. [1]