Three Gorges Dam 3D model
A free, print-ready model of the Three Gorges Dam in Sandouping, Yichang, China. Download it on its own with a name plate, or print it standing on the real terrain around it.
- Location
- Sandouping, Yichang, China
- Height
- 181 m
- Completed
- 2006
- Designed by
- Changjiang Water Resources Commission (chief design engineer Zheng Shouren)
- Also known as
- Yangtze River Three Gorges Water Conservancy Project, 三峡大坝, Sanxia Dam
- Print size
- 159 × 56 × 15 mm at the default height
- Supports
- None needed
About the Three Gorges Dam
Built across the Yangtze at Sandouping in Hubei between 1994 and 2006, the Three Gorges Dam is a concrete gravity dam 2,335 m long whose crest stands 185 m above sea level. With 32 main turbines of 700 MW it is the world’s largest power station by installed capacity, and its reservoir also holds back the Yangtze’s summer floods.
What the model includes
Built from OpenStreetMap’s outline of the dam, Wikipedia’s dimensions and photographs, at its real heights above sea level: the straight 2.3 km wall with its 40 m crest, the left and right powerhouse dams with a penstock down the sloping face for each of their 14 and 12 turbines, the gate towers on the intake wall and the powerhouses at the toe, the 483 m spillway with its 23 bays between tall piers and the crest road bridged over the gates, the long guide walls of the stilling basin, the bend of the left-bank dam by the ship lift, and the gantry cranes on the crest.
It is built from simple closed solids, so it slices cleanly and stands flat. In the download window you can set the height from 10 to 250 mm and add a base plate with the name in raised letters. The mesh has about 11,012 triangles, small enough to open in any slicer.
Print the Three Gorges Dam on its real terrain
Map data stores most buildings as a flat outline with a height, so the Three Gorges Dam would normally print as a plain block. In TerraPrinter, this model takes its place automatically. It is turned to match the outline in the map data and stands on the real elevation, with the streets, water and buildings around it.
More 3D landmarks
Questions
Is the Three Gorges Dam 3D model free?
Yes. You can download the Three Gorges Dam as an STL or 3MF for free, without an account, and print it as many times as you like.
What size should I print the Three Gorges Dam?
At the default height of 15 mm it measures 159 × 56 × 15 mm. Pick any height from 10 to 250 mm before downloading. Thin parts like spires and antennas print better at 100 mm and up on a 0.4 mm nozzle.
Do I need supports?
No. The model stands flat on its base and prints upright without supports.
Can I print the Three Gorges Dam with the city around it?
Yes. "Print on its terrain" opens TerraPrinter with the area around the Three Gorges Dam selected. When you generate the model, this landmark replaces the plain block from the map data and stands on the real terrain with the surrounding streets and buildings.