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 Reservoir Region Three Gorges Reservoir Region Three Gorges Reservoir Region, including 25 county-level divisions of Chongqing municipality and Hubei province, is the region directly or indirectly involved in the submersion of the water storage of the reservoir region of the Three Gorges Dam. The Three Gorges Reservoir Region is located in the upstream of the Yangtze River at the boundary of Chongqing municipality and Hubei province with the area of 59900 km² and with the population of 16 million. The Three Gorges Reservoir Region stretches along the Yangtze River from Jiangjin District of Chongqing to Yichang City of Hubei, which is very