After the founding of New China, especially after the Yangtze River flood in 1954 made the leaders of New China realize the urgency of preventing the Yangtze River flood disaster, the Three Gorges Project began to be formally put on the national agenda. 1953 February19 to 22, Mao Zedong took the warship "Changjiang" and was escorted by the warship "Luoyang" to personally inspect the Yangtze River. At that time, Lin Yishan and I accompanied Chairman Mao from Wuhan to Nanjing. During the three or four days on board, Chairman Mao mainly talked about two things. The first time is to understand the situation of the Yangtze River basin and focus on the flood control of the Yangtze River. The second is the public-private partnership of Minsheng Shipping Company. Flood control of the Yangtze River is a major issue, which is a major topic. Lin Yishan said that we have selected some reservoirs in the main and tributaries of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, which can store some floods in the future. Chairman Mao asked, after the completion of these reservoirs, will the flood problem in the Yangtze River be solved? Lin Yishan replied, not yet. There are still 300,000 square kilometers under these reservoirs. There are heavy rains in these places, and catastrophic floods may occur in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Chairman Mao asked again, is there any other way? Lin Yishan said that at that time, Americans made the YVA plan here, which was to generate electricity. What we are considering now is to use the large storage capacity of this reservoir to prevent floods. Chairman Mao said it was a good idea. You should study it when you go back and report to me as soon as you have the result. Don't say it outside now. Arriving in Nanjing late at night on February 22nd, we broke up with Chairman Mao. In this way, Chairman Mao raised the question of studying the Three Gorges Project. 1954 After the flood, Chairman Mao and Khrushchev discussed and wanted Soviet experts to plan the Yangtze River with us. Since 1955, many Soviet experts have come to China to work with us. At most, the number of them has reached more than 20, usually more than 10. Judging from the situation at that time, the experience of the Soviet Union was much more than ours, which was helpful to us. In this way, we have completed the planning of the Yangtze River Basin.
However, on the issue of the Three Gorges Project, domestic opinions are not consistent. 1956, the two factions for and against the Three Gorges Project openly debated in the press. 1958 1 month, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held a working meeting in Nanning. Chairman Mao asked the meeting to arrange to discuss the Three Gorges Project and sent representatives with two different opinions to report to Nanning. While affirming the necessity of the construction of the Three Gorges Project, Chairman Mao fully absorbed the reasonable part of various opinions, put forward the policy of "active preparation and full reliability", and asked Premier Zhou to take the lead in strengthening the leadership of the Three Gorges Project.
1958 after the Nanning meeting, Premier Zhou paid great attention to this work. After returning from his visit to the DPRK, he immediately visited the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River. On February 26th, Premier Zhou boarded a ship from Wuhan to inspect the Three Gorges dam area and Jingjiang levee. The entourage included two vice premiers, Li Fuchun and Li Xiannian, main leaders of ministries and commissions, experts from the Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power, and Soviet experts from the Standing Committee, totaling more than 100. I will stay with you. On February 27th, I will report on the planning of Hanjiang River and Danjiangkou Project. We gave the report materials to Premier Zhou Long before, and he read it carefully. He asked some questions when I was giving a talk. As soon as we met, as soon as I opened my mouth, Premier Zhou said that we were fellow villagers. I said I'm from Yancheng, northern Jiangsu. Premier Zhou said that you are from Er Qiao (Hu Qiaomu and Joe). After the report, Premier Zhou asked for expert opinions one by one, and everyone said that they had no opinion. Premier Zhou said that if there were no comments, it would be settled, the Danjiangkou project would be approved and included in the second five-year plan. 1959 started construction. After the Danjiangkou project was confirmed, Hubei grasped it very tightly. In fact, Premier Zhou wants to build Danjiangkou into a high dam. Lin Yishan said that Danjiangkou should be built first, and then the Three Gorges should be built step by step. This is training. Premier Zhou agreed, and decided that the technical problems of Danjiangkou Project should be handled by the Yangtze River Basin Planning Office and the construction problems should be handled by the Hubei Provincial Government.
Later, Premier Zhou went to Chongqing for a summary meeting. He made a long report. I returned to Beijing early and asked the responsible comrades of the geological department to study the geological survey. Then, Premier Zhou went from Chongqing to Chengdu to attend the Central Working Conference held in Chengdu, and made a special report on the Three Gorges Project and the Yangtze River Planning. The meeting formally adopted the "Opinions of the Central Committee on the Three Gorges Project and the Yangtze River Basin Planning" drafted by Premier Zhou, which clearly stated: "Considering the country's long-term economic development and technical conditions, the Three Gorges Project needs to be built or may be built; But in the end, I made up my mind to determine the construction and when to start. I can't make a decision until all the important preparations are basically completed. It is estimated that the whole survey, design and construction of the Three Gorges Project will take about 15 to 20 years. Now is the time to take active preparations and fully reliable policies and carry out all related work. " This document is still useful, and it is organized according to what to do, what to do and how to divide the work. It is based on this document that we are advancing the Three Gorges Project and the Yangtze River Basin management step by step.
Danjiangkou Project 1958 was approved and started in September of that year. Zhang Tixue, Governor of Hubei Province, personally took the lead. After the Danjiangkou Project started, due to the lack of concrete dam construction experience and inadequate construction preparation, and the interference of the "Great Leap Forward" and "Left" thinking at that time, some engineering quality problems appeared. 1962 In February, Premier Zhou made an important decision to carry out the construction according to the design, immediately suspend the construction, deal with concrete quality accidents, strengthen the preparation for mechanized construction, reorganize the team and strengthen training, and issued it as an official document of the central government. 1963 strengthen the quality of dam concrete and actively prepare for the mechanized construction of dam concrete. Dam concrete construction continued at 1965. Before the "Cultural Revolution", the Danjiangkou project was basically completed, and it was planned to generate electricity in 1967. Later, due to the influence of the "Cultural Revolution", power was not generated until 1968. But it also shows that we have the ability to build a high dam above 100 meters. Because 1960 after the withdrawal of Soviet experts, all the work was done by ourselves, and it was a difficult period of three years, and the national economy was a little nervous, but we survived and completed the construction of Danjiangkou project in 1989. This is the first step for us to harness and develop the Yangtze River. After the Danjiangkou project was completed, it played a good role. In the past, the Han River burst twice every three years, and floods often occurred, so that many people in the lower reaches of the Han River went to Nanyang to make a living. Danjiangkou project is the preparatory work for the Three Gorges Project.
Danjiangkou project started, but the Three Gorges project did not go ahead as scheduled. 1960 In August, due to economic difficulties and the influence of the international situation, Premier Zhou presided over a meeting on the Yangtze River Plan and decided to postpone the construction of the Three Gorges Project. Later, due to the influence of the "Cultural Revolution", the construction of the Three Gorges Project was postponed. 1970 after the situation improved, in March, Premier Zhou held a five-year plan preparation meeting in the auditorium of Beijing Hotel. He said at the meeting that the Three Gorges Project on the Yangtze River is Chairman Mao's great ideal. We must hurry and don't delay this matter. If Chairman Mao does not see the project start in his lifetime, we will be sorry for the Party, the people and Chairman Mao. Gu Ming showed us the minutes of the meeting and said that the Three Gorges Project would be included in the plan. But Lin Biao had a different opinion at that time. He believes that after the completion of the Three Gorges Dam, if there is a war, if there is an atomic bomb, then this project will become a huge burden of war.
It is against this background that in September of 1970, the Wuhan Military Region and the Revolutionary Committee of Hubei Province wrote the "Request for Instructions on the Construction of the Gezhouba Water Control Project on the Yangtze River in Yichang" to the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, proposing to build the Gezhouba Project first. Because Premier Zhou has decided to start the Three Gorges Project after the Danjiangkou Project is completed, and according to the construction procedures studied by the Yangtze River Basin Planning Office in the past, Gezhouba Project is an integral part of the Three Gorges Project and an anti-regulation reservoir of the Three Gorges Project. Gezhouba project should be built after or at the same time as the Three Gorges Project, which will have an impact on the Three Gorges Project. Premier Zhou felt very embarrassed. Later, Premier Zhou thought of a unique trick. It is also possible to build the Gezhouba project first. Gezhouba project is to prepare for the Three Gorges Project. 65438+February 65438+June presided over the the State Council business meeting and listened to the report on the design of Gezhouba project. On 24th, Premier Zhou presented the report of Wuhan Military Region and Hubei Province and the Reply of the Central Committee on Building Gezhouba Water Control Project on the Yangtze River in Yichang to Chairman Mao for review. On February 26th, 65438, on his 77th birthday, Chairman Mao read Premier Zhou's letter and "Reply on the Construction of Gezhouba Water Control Project on the Yangtze River in Yichang" and wrote instructions: in favor of the construction of this dam. However, it also pointed out: "It is one thing to conceive the document now, but it is another to encounter some unexpected difficulties in the construction process. At that time, be prepared to modify the design. " Chairman Mao's long speech on a project is also unique. In this way, on the fourth day after Chairman Mao's approval, the Gezhouba project started on a large scale according to the principle of "construction, exploration and design" before the design was completed. After the construction, as Chairman Mao said, we met all kinds of difficulties. Due to insufficient preparation, the work became more and more passive, and serious accidents occurred in the construction quality.
1972,1/kloc-0 In June, Premier Zhou convened two meetings to study the Gezhouba water control project. He instructed nine comrades, including Lin Yishan, to form the Gezhouba Engineering and Technical Committee to discuss whether Gezhouba should go up or down, and report to the CPC Central Committee. After full discussion by the Gezhouba Engineering and Technical Committee, it was decided to suspend the Gezhouba project for two years and redesign it. Premier Zhou agreed with this opinion. In this way, since then, I have been stationed at the Gezhouba project site for a long time as the deputy chief engineer of the Yangtze River Basin Planning Office. Under the leadership of Gezhouba Engineering Technical Committee, Wen and I are responsible for the technical design of Gezhouba Project together. 1In September, 974, under the auspices of Gu Mu, Vice Premier of the State Council, the design scheme was reviewed. With the approval of Premier Zhou, Gezhouba Water Control Project was restarted at the end of 1974. Since then, with the efforts of more than 30,000 people for nearly seven years, the interference of ultra-left ideological trend has been eliminated, especially after the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China determined the correct route centering on economic construction, the Gezhouba project has accelerated the pace of construction. 198 1 At the beginning, the river was successfully closed and the ship lock was opened in June and July. The first unit of the power plant generates electricity, and the flood discharge building has withstood the test of 70000 cubic meters per second. 1994 project was successfully completed. In terms of shipping, the Three Gorges section of Chuanjiang Waterway, the most dangerous waterway on the Yangtze River, has been significantly improved, which is conducive to the development of shipping and the lock approach channel is operating normally. Gezhouba water control project has been well received by Chinese and foreign water conservancy engineering circles.
Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou didn't see the magnificent picture of "The Gorge Out of Pinghu" with their own eyes, but they did a lot of preparatory work, especially initiated the construction of Gezhouba, the first dam of the Yangtze River, which accumulated experience and trained the team and laid the foundation for the construction of the Three Gorges Project.