THE GEZHOUBA (KO-CHOU-PA) DAM PROJECT, PRC

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: NGA Records (Formerly NIMA)
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80T00556A000100030001-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 19, 2010
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: January 1, 1980
• Content Type: REPORT

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Top Secret RUFF
THE GEZHOUBA (KO-CHOU-PA) DAM PROJECT, PRC (S)
INTRODUCTION
1. (U) The Gezhouba (Ko-chou-pa) Dam Project .is the largest project of its type in the People's Republic of
China (PRC) and will be the first dam constructed on the main stream of the Chingjiang (Chang-chiang) River proper
(Yangtze River). This two-stage project has been underway since 1970. The dam is designed for navigation and flood
control and to provide hydroelectric power. The damsite is near the city of Yichang (1-chang) in the Xiling (Hsi-ling)
Gorge of Hubei (Hupeh) Province.
2. (U) The first stage of the project is underway in the northern channel area (Figure 1). This will include
construction of a regulating dam, a generating station, two boat navigation locks, and water release and sand
sweeping gates.' The second stage, not yet underway, will close off the southern channel (which is now carrying all
navigation) and will include one boat navigation lock.2
3. (U) The Gezhouba Dam is one of the 120 projects in the PRC's 10-year,. Four Modernizations Plan.
According to the Ministry of Water Conservancy and Power, the project will be complete in 1985. The first power will
be produced in 1982.2
DESCRIPTION
4. (U) The damsite for this project is situated in the middle of the Huang Ling anticline which has no deep faults
and consists of impermeable bedrock (crystalline of the pre-Cambrian period). The Chingjiang River is divided here
into three streams by two small islands, Gezhouba and Xiba (Hsi-pa; Figure 1). The dam will be a concrete structure
70 meters high and a total of 2,561 meters long. It will form a reservoir with a capacity of 1,580,000,000 cubic meters.3
Impact on Region
5. (U) This low-head dam will consist of 21 generating units with a total capacity of 2,710 megawatts and an
annual generating capacity of 13,800 kilowatt-hours.' Figure 2 shows the generating station in the early stage of
construction. When complete, the generating station is intended to supply electricity for industrial and agricultural
production in the western regions of Hubei, Henan (Honan), and Hunan Provinces and the eastern region of Sichuan
(Szechwan) Province.'
6. (U) Construction of a dam on the Chingjiang River is necessary for controlling the frequent flooding of the
agricultural lands in the middle and lower reaches of the river. The dam will control 1 million square kilometers of
drainage area and approximately 70 percent of the flow of the river.' The dam's 27 floodgates (Figure 3) are to have a
maximum flow of 110,000 cubic meters per second.
Navigation
7. (U) The dam will contain three navigation locks-two on the north bank of the river (Figure 4) and one on
the south bank (not yet under construction). Two of the navigation locks are designed for 10,000-ton ships and will be
280 meters long and 34 meters wide.3 The third navigation lock will handle smaller vessels.
8. (U) Damming of the Chingjiang River will also reduce the water velocity (eliminating hazardous shoals and
rapids) and increase the water depth for a distance of more than 70 kilometers upstream.3 This will make the river
navigable for 10,000-ton ships traveling between the Yichang and Sichuan basins.
(TSR) Relevant KEYHOLE imagery acquired from was used in
the preparation of this report.
1. "The First Dam on the Yangzi," China Pictorial, Mar 79, pp 2-3 (UNCLASSIFIED)
2. "China Unveils Gezhouba Dam on Yangtze," Engineering News-Record, Vol 202, No 24, 14 Jun 79, p 18
(UNCLASSIFIED)
3. "The Greatest Dam on Earth," China Business Review, January-February 1979, Vol 6, No I p 56 (UNCLASSIFIED)
REQUIREMENT
Project 130121NZ
Division, Imagery Exploitation Group, NPIC,
Asian Forces 25X1
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FIGURE 2. GENERATING STATION SUBSTRUCTURE UNDER CONSTRUCTION. (Unclassified photograph from referenced document 1)
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