United States: Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation,, 1944. The genesis of the Three Gorges Dam Number 4 of a small number of copies of this report, by the engineering mind behind the Hoover Dam, on harnessing the mighty Yangtze River for hydroelectric power generation - a vision finally realized over half a century later. We have traced only four other surviving examples, all found in institutions. The author, John Lucian Savage (1879-1967), was an American civil engineer who became the Chief Designing Engineer at the Bureau of Reclamation in 1924. "In this capacity he designed dams, canals, and other irrigation-related structures throughout eleven western states, the most impressive projects being Hoover - the supreme engineering feat of its day - Grand Coulee, Parker, and Shasta dams. Because the first three were respectively the highest, widest, and deepest dams in the world at the time of their construction, Savage and his design team developed trial-load analysis for determining actual versus theoretical stresses in arched dams as well as models for determining concrete deterioration, land subsidence, and increased seismicity caused by the weight of a mammoth dam" (ANB). Since the 1930s, Savage had been fascinated with both the idea of damming the Yangtze and the prospect of co-operation between the Bureau of Reclamation and the Chinese government. Chiang Kai-Shek's administration was equally keen. Amidst Chinese efforts to repel a Japanese invasion, in 1943 the National Resources Commission of Chiang's government invited Savage to China to devise concrete plans - an opportunity Savage described to the State Department as a "signal honor" and "an opportunity to be of service to the valiant people of China" (quoted in Rowley & Gahan, p. 584). Even as Chinese-Japanese armed engagements raged nearby, Savage spent the period from May to November 1944 researching feasibility and necessary administrative and financial arrangements. This resulting report outlines several different plans for constructing a dam, reservoir, and power plant to generate up to 11 million kilowatts of power, 74 million acre feet of water for irrigation, and 22 million acre feet of flood storage. Savage projects a final cost of around 1 billion US dollars and annual revenues exceeding 50 million US dollars. The main 98-page technical report is accompanied by his 238-page discussion of four hydro-projects located on important tributaries, discussing costings and technical details. The two reports are supported by dozens of technical maps, plans, and diagrams. Savage's time in China only reinforced his belief in the possibilities of a project unprecedented in its scope and ambition: "The Yangtze Gorge Project is a 'CLASSIC'. It will be of utmost importance to China. It will bring great industrial developments in Central and Western China. It will bring widespread employment. It will bring high standards of living. It will change China from a weak to a strong nation. The Yangtze Gorge Project should be constructed for the benefit of China and the World at large" (p. 6). An accompanying typescript letter (dated 2 April 1946) from Walker R. Young, Chief Engineer in the Bureau of Reclamation, confirms that as many as 50 Chinese engineers will soon be available to orchestrate the Yangtze project but also hints at the impact of the Chinese Civil War on the National Resources Commission - the war proved the ultimate undoing of efforts to act on Savage's vision. The letter states that numbered copies of the report are being distributed in preparation for a formal planning conference involving American and Chinese engineers. The number of recipients - nine western engineers - gives a good indication of the report's small circulation. Savage's copy is housed with some of his papers at the National Museum of American History. Copies are also found at the US National Archives, the Colorado School of Mines, and Purdue University (where Savage served as a faculty member). The National Library of China has a version with a Chinese title page - the precise nature of this copy awaits further research. Folio. With 73 large folding maps, plans, and diagrams. Original black cloth, spine lettered in gilt, hinges reinforced with brown linen as issued, buff endpapers, text printed in photostat typescript. Cloth lightly soiled and rubbed, internally clean. A fine copy. William D. Rowley & Andrew H. Gahan, The Bureau of Reclamation: From Developing to Managing Water, 1945-2000, 2006.
