Chinese authorities affirm Three Gorges Dam is ‘structurally sound'

A viral social media post purported the dam to be at risk of breaking.

China’s government has denied rumours that the Three Gorges Dam, said to be the world’s biggest hydropower project, is at risk of collapse, Reuters reports.

Safety experts with the government-run China Three Gorges Corporation said on its official website that the Yangtze River dam had moved a few millimetres due to temperature and water level changes, but safety indicators remained well within their normal range.

They were responding to a Twitter user who posted satellite photos from Google Maps purporting to show the dam had bent and was at risk of breaking. The photos were circulated on domestic social media.

The 185 m Three Gorges Dam has been one of China’s most expensive and most controversial engineering projects, submerging entire villages, displacing millions of people and disrupting ecosystems.

Critics say it has also increased earthquake and landslide risks in the region. In 2011, five years after the dam was built, China admitted the project had caused widespread social and environmental damage and promised $18b (RMB124b) in extra funding.

Read the full report here.

Photo from Yahoo! Singapore.