The Brazilian government was faced with a tricky problem when their populations skyrocketed in the 1960’s. They had to come up with a way to provide electricity for its ever-growing population. The country didn’t have enough oil and didn’t have enough money to spend on foreign oil. Knowing this, they turned to water considering that about ten percent of all fresh water on earth is found in Brazil. The government used hydroelectricity because it was fiscally attainable. They decided to use the Parana River, which is the seventh largest in the world. They chose one spot that met all of their criteria and this was known as the Itiapu dam. The advantages of the dam were vast. It provided massive amounts of energy for both Brazil and Paraguay. It also created jobs in the meantime, caused an influx of people to immigrate to Foz Do Iguacu and caused the town to grow. The dam itself was called a “Gravity Dam” meaning that the dam weighs more than the water is capable of moving. The dam is cost effective because the walls are hollow and all of the power generating equipment is held inside the dam itself. The dam now provides power to twenty four million Brazilians in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. The disadvantages of this dam were also huge. Because of the flooding of the valley, there were tons of farmland and forest loss. Animals lost habitats and had to be rescued from the water, humans lost their homes and had to relocate with compensation. In total, the Brazilian government spent about one-third billion pounds solely in compensations. They also faced many challenges when building the dam. They had to create secondary levels of dams in order to get the maximum energy levels and there was a bulk amount of bad bedrock underneath the dam’s infrastructure that had to be replaced with concrete, which set the whole project back not only timely but also financially. Because the dam was being built in Brazil which has a hot climate, they had to specially formulate the concrete used in the dam so that it wouldn’t crack and they did this by essentially refrigerating it.
The Three Gorges Dam in China is two kilometers long and sixty stories tall, making it the largest hydroelectric project in the world. China is so densely populated and growing that it needed to generate a ton of power. Just like the Itaipu Dam, the Three Gorges Dam generates power for millions of people but specifically it provides clean and cheap electric power to sixty million Chinese. The same challenge faced by Brazilians was flooding and the movement of people. The Chinese citizens affected by the flooding were provided new housing to relocate to. Both sets of dam engineers also utilized cofferdams in order to redirect the rivers. Also, China has extremely hot summers so to compensate for the heat they would use fog screens to protect the concrete from the UV radiation. China also dealt with bedrock issues a little bit different; they filled their bedrock with grout instead of removing it and filling that spot with concrete. One challenge that the Three Gorges Dam addressed was ship transit. They implemented a ship lock system for large cargo vessels and a ship-lift system that is more efficient for passenger ships.
The Grand Coulee Dam was encompassed by the idea of manifest destiny. Americans started to transform the river into a working landscape. People have learned to hate the dam, but also to be proud of it. Located on the mouth of the Colombia River, the Grand Coulee Dam was created initially to irrigate land beneath it in the northwest that was once extremely dry. Eventually the government realized the untapped power of the river to harvest and use as energy. It wasn’t until FDR’s administration that the Grand Coulee Dam got approved. Just as the other two dams, it was created to provide clean and cheap electricity to its surrounding areas but it was initially created to provide irrigation to the northwest. It created a ton of jobs during the Great Depression and gave hope to the American People. This dam also dealt with compensations for residents except these residents were Native American tribes. These tribes were promised irrigation and cheaper electricity for their land. Unlike the other two dams, the Grand Coulee cut off salmon migration roots and blocked salmon spawning and harvesting. Another challenge for the dam engineers was the lack of technology and funding. At one point in the video it showed the workers spreading concrete by hand and throwing mattresses into the river to stop a quick breakthrough of water that had occurred. There were also a lot more fatalities with the lesser technology, too. The one development that didn’t change at all through all the videos was the innovative “cofferdams”.
All of these areas had the potential to use hydroelectricity to efficiently power their surrounding cities and towns, so they tapped into that potential and created amazing dams that different generations would use for years to come.
The Three Gorges Dam in China is two kilometers long and sixty stories tall, making it the largest hydroelectric project in the world. China is so densely populated and growing that it needed to generate a ton of power. Just like the Itaipu Dam, the Three Gorges Dam generates power for millions of people but specifically it provides clean and cheap electric power to sixty million Chinese. The same challenge faced by Brazilians was flooding and the movement of people. The Chinese citizens affected by the flooding were provided new housing to relocate to. Both sets of dam engineers also utilized cofferdams in order to redirect the rivers. Also, China has extremely hot summers so to compensate for the heat they would use fog screens to protect the concrete from the UV radiation. China also dealt with bedrock issues a little bit different; they filled their bedrock with grout instead of removing it and filling that spot with concrete. One challenge that the Three Gorges Dam addressed was ship transit. They implemented a ship lock system for large cargo vessels and a ship-lift system that is more efficient for passenger ships.
The Grand Coulee Dam was encompassed by the idea of manifest destiny. Americans started to transform the river into a working landscape. People have learned to hate the dam, but also to be proud of it. Located on the mouth of the Colombia River, the Grand Coulee Dam was created initially to irrigate land beneath it in the northwest that was once extremely dry. Eventually the government realized the untapped power of the river to harvest and use as energy. It wasn’t until FDR’s administration that the Grand Coulee Dam got approved. Just as the other two dams, it was created to provide clean and cheap electricity to its surrounding areas but it was initially created to provide irrigation to the northwest. It created a ton of jobs during the Great Depression and gave hope to the American People. This dam also dealt with compensations for residents except these residents were Native American tribes. These tribes were promised irrigation and cheaper electricity for their land. Unlike the other two dams, the Grand Coulee cut off salmon migration roots and blocked salmon spawning and harvesting. Another challenge for the dam engineers was the lack of technology and funding. At one point in the video it showed the workers spreading concrete by hand and throwing mattresses into the river to stop a quick breakthrough of water that had occurred. There were also a lot more fatalities with the lesser technology, too. The one development that didn’t change at all through all the videos was the innovative “cofferdams”.
All of these areas had the potential to use hydroelectricity to efficiently power their surrounding cities and towns, so they tapped into that potential and created amazing dams that different generations would use for years to come.