Article ID: CBB758899870

'The Yellow River Comes from Our Hands': Silt, Hydroelectricity, and the Sanmenxia Dam, 1929-1973 (2021)

unapi

Focusing on the planning and construction of the Sanmenxia hydropower project, this article analyses the dynamics and tensions between energy demand and the nature of the Yellow River in the twentieth century. From the late 1920s, Japanese engineers aimed to develop hydroelectric power by building dams on the Yellow River. They viewed the Yellow River as an important source of hydroelectric power for building the Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere. When Chinese Communists took control, they claimed that the primary function of the Sanmenxia project was flood control. Yet, influenced by the Soviet Union and the Chinese Communist state's industrialisation efforts, the engineers also emphasised the generation of electrical power, which resulted in a high dam design. The silting of the reservoir, however, frustrated the ambition of the Chinese leaders and engineers and resulted in the production of much lower and unstable power output upon the dam's completion.

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Authors & Contributors
Brossmann, Brent
Evenden, Matthew D.
Gelly, Alain
Götz, Roland
Hess, David J.
Hirt, Paul W.
Journals
IA. The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology
Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology and Society
Environment and History
Environmental History
History and Technology
Icon: Journal of the International Committee for the History of Technology
Publishers
Cornell University Press
Texas A&M University Press
University of North Carolina Press
University of Pittsburgh Press
University of Texas Press
University of Toronto Press
Concepts
Hydroelectric power
Dams
Energy resources and technologies
Water resource management
Industrial archaeology
Rivers
Time Periods
20th century
21st century
19th century
20th century, late
20th century, early
Modern
Places
United States
Canada
Brazil
Colorado River (North America)
Texas (U.S.)
China
Institutions
World Bank
HidroAysén
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