Special Report: Three Gorges Project

Related Story:

Underwater demolition removes Three Gorges Project's last cofferdam

    THREE GORGES DAM SITE, Hubei Province, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Demolition of the last cofferdam protecting the just-completed main wall of the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest, started at 4:00 on Tuesday afternoon in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, China's longest, with explosives enough to topple down 400 10-storey buildings.

The last cofferdam protecting the just-completed main wall of Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River is blown up in Yichang, central China's Hubei Province, June 6, 2006. (Xinhua Photo)

    The operation took about 12 seconds, causing nearly 190,000 cubic meters of concrete fragments from the upper-30-meter section of the cofferdam to tumble into the river.

  Li Yong'an, general manager of the China Yangtze River Three Gorges Project Development Corp., announced the success of the demolition.

    Wang Xu'guang, a demolition expert and an academician with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, "I was a bit nervous before the explosion. I'm so pleased to see the success of the operation, which indicated a big step forward in the development of China's demolition business."

    S. Thomson, an Australian explosion expert invited by the China Yangtze River Three Gorges Project Development Corp., said the cofferdam demolition was "the toughest blast in the world and a long blast with little charges."

    The removal of the cofferdam means the main wall of the Three Gorges Project will formally begin its role in flood control, which will be two years ahead of schedule, according to Li.

    The world's largest dam in Three Gorges area, central China's Hubei Province, was completed on May 20, signifying a milestone accomplishment of major structure of the mammoth Three Gorges water control project that aims to tame the flood-prone Yangtze River.

    Measures were taken to keep the main dam safe and sound against the demolition, said Yu Ying, a technical expert with the Gezhouba Dam Group, operator of the demolition. Full Story>>