Three Gorges Dam by Chiang Kai-shek, began preliminary work on plans in the Three Gorges. In 1939, Japanese military forces occupied Yichang and surveyed the area. A design, the Otani plan, was completed for the dam in anticipation of a Japanese victory over China. In 1944, the United States Bureau of Reclamation head design engineer, John L. Savage, surveyed the area and drew up a dam proposal for the 'Yangtze River Project'. Some 54 Chinese engineers went to the U.S. for training. The original plans called for the dam to employ a unique method for moving ships; the ships would move into locks
Three Gorges of Hubei Province (), in the middle of Xiling Gorge. On May 20, 2006, the reservoir dam was completed, and the water level quickly reached the initial level of above the downstream river. The project was completed by the end of 2008, with a ship lift completed in 2015. The dam and Three Gorges Reservoir has had a massive impact on the region's ecology and people, involving the mass relocation of towns and villages. The higher water level has changed the scenery of the Three Gorges so that the river is wider and the mountains appear lower. However, the mountains