| Gezhouba Dam | |
| Dam Crosses: | Yangtze River |
| Location: | Yichang, China |
| Dam Type: | Concrete gravity, run-of-the-river |
| Dam Length: | 25950NaN0 |
| Dam Height: | 470NaN0 |
| Res Capacity Total: | 1.58km3 |
| Plant Operator: | China Yangtze Power |
| Plant Capacity: | 2,715 MW |
| Plant Annual Gen: | 14,100 GWh |
| Plant Type: | R |
| Location Map: | China |
| Coordinates: | 30.7397°N 111.2722°W |
| S: | 长江葛洲坝水利枢纽工程 |
| P: | Chángjiāng Gězhōubà shuǐlì shūniǔ gōngchéng |
| L: | Yangtze River Gezhouba Water Control Project |
The Gezhouba Dam or Gezhouba Water Control Project on the Yangtze River is located in the western suburbs of Yichang, in central China's Hubei province. One of the largest run-of-the-river dams, it sits several kilometers upstream from downtown Yichang, just downstream of the fall of the Huangbo River into the Yangtze. Construction started on December 30, 1970 and ended on December 11, 1988. The dam has a total installed electrical capacity of .[1]
After rushing out of Nanjin Pass (南津关, "South Ford Pass"), the Yangtze River slows down and widens from to about at the dam site. Two small islands, Gezhouba and Xiba, divided the river into three channels. There the Gezhouba Project was built.
The facility boasts a generating capacity of along with three ship locks, two power stations that generate of electricity annually. It has 27 gates of spillway, and a non-flowing Dam on both banks. The dam is long with a maximum height of . The reservoir has a total volume of 1.58km3.
The navigation lock on the third channel was, when built, among the 100 largest in the world. The lock chamber is long and wide, with a minimum draft of at the sill. It provides passage for 10,000 ton ships.
The construction of the Gezhouba Dam, and others on the Yangtze, is considered by scientists to be one of the main causes of the decline and extinction of the Chinese paddlefish.[2] [3]