Episode
Modern Marvels: China's Great Dam
Overview
When completed, China’s Three Gorges Dam will tower 607 feet in the air and weigh 40 Great Pyramids. Other than China’s Great Wall, it will be the only man-made object visible from the moon. Supporters see it as key to a new China, controlling floods and bringing hydroelectric power to one of its least-developed areas. Critics voice a litany of concerns–from environmental to flooding the spectacular area for which it’s named. We trace its story–from ancient flood control to current controversy.
Details
- Series
- Modern Marvels
- Season
- Season 7
- Episode
- Episode 23
- Air date
- 2000-08-22
- Runtime
- 44 min
Episode context
China's Great Dam is Episode 23 in Season 7 of Modern Marvels. It aired on 2000-08-22. The runtime is 44 min.
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Episode 22: Aswan Dam
In 1954, Gamal Abdel Nasser, the Arab Republic of Egypt’s first prime minister, had a plan to bring his poor country into the 20th century. To pull it off, he needed to harness the flow of the world’s longest river–the Nile. The ambitious plan called for construction of a high dam in southern Egypt at Aswan. But the builders of the pyramids and the Suez Canal were no strangers to large undertakings. We’ll see how the Aswan High Dam socially, politically, culturally, and agriculturally affected Egypt.
Episode 24: The Maginot Line
The Maginot Line, a defensive string of large and small forts built during the years between World War I and World War II, was intended to forestall another invasion by aggressive Germany. Despite the Treaty of Versailles, France saw that it was only a matter of time before Germany would rise again and threaten France. News of northern neighbor Belgium’s neutrality left France with an exposed flank, which would ultimately be the Maginot Line’s weak point-the Germans were able to outflank the line almost entirely, readily conceding the Line’s impregnability while conquering the country.
More episodes from this season
Episode 21: Trucks
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Episode 25: Video Games: Behind The Fun
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Episode 20: The Erie Canal
The Erie Canal was America’s first superhighway. It was a narrow ribbon of water carved through sheer rock and untamed wilderness. It featured an ingenious network of stone locks and aqueducts. Skeptics called it “Clinton’s Ditch,” but visionaries saw it as the gateway to a gleaming future. An engineering marvel when it was built some called it the Eighth Wonder of the World.
Episode 26: The Body Shop
Host Ron Hazelton and two mechanics dissect a 2000 Ford Taurus to trace the evolution of the automobile’s major systems. This 2-hour nuts-and-bolt special breaks the car down into its major components (engine, body, chassis, etc.). Starting with the earliest vehicles in the 1800s, automotive historians and experts describe how cars have evolved and explain major advances. And, finally concept cars and computer animations provide a glimpse into the future.
Episode 19: Banks.
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Episode 27: Machine Tools
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Episode 18: Gold Mines.
Around the world and across the eons, gold stands as a symbol of power, wealth, and love. The quest for the yellow metal took men across oceans, into the depths of the Alaskan winter, and miles beneath South African earth. This is the story of the hunters of the precious metal and their methods for extracting it.
Episode 28: Farming Technology
The US agricultural process, from seed to shelf, is so efficient that most people don’t think much about it. But food growing and processing is ever more sophisticated, employing computer-guided, ground-shaking machinery, and sometimes controversial techniques. It’s an industry of declining family farms, diminishing returns, yet higher yields. We review the evolution of the tools used to produce food, show the steps in the cycle that bring food to the table, and look at the future of farming.
Episode 17: Buses
The most opulent are wheeled luxury liners with satellite TV and hot tubs–a far cry from the first bus, an 8-passenger carriage! Watch a bus being built from the ground up, and learn the differences in the standard types (transit, school, inter-city, and specialty). Pack your bags or lunch and travel down the road of bus history.
Episode 29: Assembly Lines
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, an assembly line is an “industrial arrangement of machines, equipment, and workers for continuous flow of workpieces in mass production operations.” While the basic principles of the assembly line technique have not changed in one hundred years, the people and the products that exploit the technique have. Throughout the hour, we will hear from four generations of assembly line workers who will provide some perspective, heart and soul for this revolutionary production technique.