Forget the Olympics. This is China’s most spectacular extravaganza.

A hundred years in the making, costing $25 billion, one of the biggest engineering feats the world has ever seen.

And according to its critics, an environmental disaster on a monumental scale.

The Three Gorges Dam is certainly a sight to behold, a massive wall of concrete spanning the mighty Yangtze River.

The Chinese say it’s all about flood control and clean hydro electric power. The environmentalists say true, it is about power.

Power and national pride and the arrogance of man trying to tame forces of nature.

View the 60 Minutes feature, “The Other Great Wall”: 

TRANSCRIPT:

STORY – TARA BROWN: The magnificent Yangtze. More than 6,000km long, it’s the third-largest river in the world. Cutting through steep cliff faces shrouded in mist, this journey is one of life’s great experiences. But the Yangtze is not only spectacular – it’s also a life line to 400 million Chinese. That means its waters are busy with barges and its shoreline littered with industry, making the Yangtze not only one of the mightiest but, sadly, also one of the most polluted rivers in the world. My guide, Grainne Ryder, knows rivers. She’s a water resources engineer who’s been coming to the Yangtze for the past 20 years. This is such a beautiful setting. The water looks great. Would you swim here or drink it?

GRAINNE RYDER – WATER RESOURCES ENGINEER: Well, it’s a little bit green. There’s a lot of algae. I wouldn’t swim in it, wouldn’t drink it.

TARA BROWN: We’re in a small boat to travel up one of the Yangtze’s many tributaries. Even away from industry, towns and cargo ships this part of the river is in strife.

GRAINNE RYDER: The water is so polluted it can’t be used, even for irrigation.

TARA BROWN: That’s like looking out to a huge sea and not being able to drink a drop of it.

GRAINNE RYDER: Ah, yeah it’s a real mess.

TARA BROWN: For Grainne, at the heart of this river crisis is the very monument China hails as its greatest engineering achievement. The Three Gorges Dam – the biggest dam in the world, a reservoir 600km long, almost smack-bang in the middle of China.

GRAINNE RYDER: I think the Three Gorges was a political dream.

TARA BROWN: Was there an element of proving to the world that this could be done, despite the criticism?

GRAINNE RYDER: Yes, I think there was an element that this would, that China would prove it was a modernised nation. They’re very proud that it’s the world’s largest dam.

TARA BROWN: The dam was first conceived 100 years ago, but it was the Yangtze-swimming Chairman Mao Zedong who championed its cause as a symbol of communist supremacy. But it wasn’t until the ’90s that the bulldozers moved in and, in a couple of months, after 17 years of construction, it will finally be finished and filled to full capacity. So, when this dam is finished, how much will it have cost?

PROF. DING QIHUA – ENGINEER, THREE GORGES DAM: Uhm, maybe about US$25 billion.

TARA BROWN: US$25 billion. That’s a lot of money. Worth it, do you think? Is it worth the money?

PROF. DING QIHUA: Yes, I think so.

TARA BROWN: Professor Ding Qihua, the deputy director of construction, says the dam was built to supply clean hydro-electricity to an energy hungry nation, to control flooding, and to increase the number of large ships that use the river. So, good or bad for China?

PROF. DING QIHUA: I think it’s, um, it’s good for China.

TARA BROWN: At its peak, 28,000 people helped build this engineering marvel. Everything about it is epic. From the length of this dam wall – it’s more than 2km long – to the 20 trillion litres of water this dam will hold when it’s full. But perhaps the most ambitious aspect of this is the very notion that man can beat nature by harnessing its power. For many, though, the evidence is now clear – nature is fighting back.

GRAINNE RYDER: The problem is now it may get its revenge because the problems with sediment and water quality and already there are experts who are very worried about the earthquakes and the risk of, of the dam, the reservoir actually inducing earthquakes in the area.

TARA BROWN: This is an area already vulnerable to earthquakes but the added fear is the weight of the water in this massive dam will trigger even more severe earthquakes, like the one that killed 80,000 people in May. That was 600km away, but its tremors were felt here, and this dam is only going to get heavier. Along its banks, markers show how much higher the water is yet to rise – 175 metres when it’s full. But the engineers say the dam is safe.

PROF. DING QIHUA: (Translation): The dam was built to withstand level 7 earthquakes and this area is unlikely to have an earthquake higher than level 6.

TARA BROWN: It’s certainly spectacular countryside up here, isn’t it?

GRAINNE RYDER: It is. You can see every scrap of land has been used to grow corn and orange trees.

TARA BROWN: It’s obvious as you climb the imposing riverbanks, this is unstable country. It’s always been prone to landslides but, since the dam started to fill in 2003, there have been nearly 2,000 rock falls. In response, whole villages have been moved – some more than once – and the dam builders have had to reinforce hundreds of kilometres of shoreline. The engineers say the banks are now safe. They’ve stabilised them, there’s nothing to worry about.

GRAINNE RYDER: Oh, it’s impossible to stabilise. Look around. I mean, you can’t physically stabilise the entire reservoir – a 600km-long reservoir. So, the villagers are certainly living at risk.

TARA BROWN: The construction of something this big meant destruction on an even bigger scale. Apartment blocks, shops, schools, entire cities were blown up to make way for the rising water. Adding to the toxic soup, 1,600 factories and mines were also drowned. So, before the damming, how wide would this part of the Yangtze have been?

GRAINNE RYDER: This would have been probably 20 metres wide. I mean, you really had to go out on a small boat before the dam so, it’s almost like a lake now.

TARA BROWN: But the biggest impact of the flooding of the Yangtze valley has been on the people – millions have been forcibly moved. So, we’re sort of travelling over now submerged mini cities?

GRAINNE RYDER: Yeah, houses and graves, and I think that – you hear stories that that’s one of the most upsetting things for local people is to leave their ancestors behind.

TARA BROWN: When the dam levels reaches its full capacity of 175m, this ancient city of Fengdu will be spared, but only just. The area around here will become an island and a reminder of all that’s been lost. For when the dam is filled, later this year, countless more villages will be submerged and, all up, more than four million people displaced. Brick by brick, it feels like China is on the move. These people are preparing for the rising tide and, officially, everyone is happy to give up their homes – just ask the minister for the Three Gorges Dam, Song Yuansheng.

SONG YUANSHENG – MINISTER, THREE GORGES DAM: (Translation): They are now being settled in newer cities and, so, the dam is simply urbanisation of that region, giving its people hope and a brighter future.

TARA BROWN: Do you accept, though, that after generations of farming that these people may not want to be urbanised? This is not what they want?

SONG YUANSHENG: (Translation): Most of the people understand that it’s for the greater good and they’re happy to leave, to move to another region.

TARA BROWN: It’s about now you’re reminded you’re in a communist country. We’ve been told there are many people devastated by the forced relocations and paltry compensation offered by the government. But Lu Cheng Ming is one of very few prepared to take the risk to talk to us publicly. He says his safety is now the only thing left to lose.

LU CHENG MING – VILLAGER: (Translation): I’m scared of the size of the government. The government is big. We have no human rights, we have no property rights and we are just ordinary people – we can’t protect ourselves.

TARA BROWN: Mr Lu owned his own home, a small hotel, and operated a public wharf he built with his own money. When the demolishers moved in he says he was offered a tenth of what his property and business were worth. They’re all now under water, but Mr Lu’s battle continues.

LU CHENG MING: (Translation): I’m living in a tent, I’m drinking polluted water. Life is just unbearable. Next year I’ll be 60. I have no money, I have nothing, and there is very little hope.

TARA BROWN: Personal grief versus power generation. For a country that’s energy needs are skyrocketing, power has more power. The engineers tell us this dam will supply the same amount of electricity as 18 nuclear power stations, lighting up the big cities along the river. The figures are so vast here in China, they’re almost incomprehensible. Take this place. It’s the world’s largest metropolis and, chances are, you’ve never heard of it. Chongqing has a population of 32 million people – that’s 1.5 times the size of Australia. So, think about it – the demand for energy here is astronomical, and it’s growing by the day. For the government, energy’s the big picture here, and it wants one thing made perfectly clear – its air. The hydro-electricity generated by the dam will save burning 50 million tonnes of coal a year. For another big city, like the coal-producing Linfen, that will mean a breath of fresh air. The good news here, in Linfen, is this is not the world’s most polluted city – that title goes to some hell hole in Azerbaijan. The bad news is Linfen is the world’s second-worst – a toxic waste dump spewing poisonous gases into the air, slowly killing its people. Three-quarters of the population – that’s three million people – have bronchitis, pneumonia, lung cancer and/or lead and arsonic poisoning. So, it’s little wonder they’re trying to switch off some of their coal-fired power stations around here.

SONG YUANSHENG: (Translation): We’ve already closed down several coal-fired power stations. We’re reducing coal consumption and, therefore, reducing pollution. We’re cleaning the environment.

TARA BROWN: They say, with the dam, that they’re saving a 100 million tons of CO2 emissions each year. Does that not make the damming of the Yangtze worth it?

GRAINNE RYDER: Definitely not. I think, when you add up the costs to the economy, the costs of displacing so many people, drowning so many towns and villages, um, I think it is an environmental disaster.

TARA BROWN: In terms of stuff-ups, how would you rate this one?

GRAINNE RYDER: Well, if they could, if they could reverse it, it would be a good day for China. If they could take this dam out and begin to restore the ecosystem I think it would be good for the people of China and the world.

TARA BROWN: As an engineer who’s worked on it, do you think it will be pulled down one day?

PROF. DING QIHUA: (Translation): When you’re building a dam like this, there are many different views about it, but I think it was really worthwhile, and I think it is here to stay.

TARA BROWN: For its supporters, the Three Gorges Dam is a testament to man’s determination. To its critics, it’s a folly, showcasing man’s supreme arrogance. The gamble is the very future of the Yangtze River. So, to date, man has been successful in harnessing nature here on the Yangtze?

PROF. DING QIHUA: (Translation): It’s not a matter of man harnessing nature. Man and nature are trying to work together.

TARA BROWN: Well, that’s a very big concrete wall standing in the way of nature!

PROF. DING QIHUA: I prefer to think of it as using nature, not destroying it.

TARA BROWN: Do you see anything good coming out of the Three Gorges Dam? Are there any benefits?

GRAINNE RYDER: I think, if anything, the Three Gorges Dam should teach whole new generation of engineers what not to do to a river and the people who depend on it.