ABSTRACT
The geological investigation and studies for the Three Gorges Project (TGP) have been lasted for more than 40 years, centering around such five engineering issues as dam site (dam region) comparison, regional stability and seismic risks, reservoir and environmental geology, damsite and structure foundation geology, natural construction materials. Through coordinated muti-discipline research including all the geoscience disciplines relevant to the engineering construction, and employment of state-of-the-art techniques in different periods, a comprehensive yet in-depth geological investigation and study has been carried out. As a result a wealth of reliable data have been obtained and great a many valuable experiences are summarized, which has made a great contribution to the development of relevant disciplines. The TGP formally commenced to construction on Dec. 14, 1994 and the construction of major structures are now in progress smoothly. The understandings and conclusions reached in investigation phases are now under examination and the results will further enrich engineering geology in both theory and practice with the progress of the project construction.
