China Removes Temporary Wall at Three Gorges Dam
China blew up the last temporary wall between the Three Gorges Dam and the Yangtze River on Tuesday, using enough explosives to bring down 400 10-story buildings, state media reported.
The 1,900-foot-long, 459-foot-high cofferdam connected to the southern bank of the Yangtze River was brought down in 12 seconds in a series of explosions using 191.3 tons of explosives planted underwater, the New China News Agency said.
The blast sprayed about 248,500 cubic yards of concrete fragments into China’s longest river, the news agency said.
Removal of the cofferdam, a watertight temporary structure that keeps water away from a construction area, means the world’s largest dam -- 1.4 miles long -- had in effect commenced flood control two years ahead of schedule, the news agency said.
The concrete structure of the dam was completed last month, but its power-generation facilities are not scheduled to be finished until 2008.
The dam is designed to eventually produce 22.4 million kilowatts of electricity -- enough to light up Shanghai on a peak day with power to spare.
More than 1.13 million people have been relocated to make way for the dam and its reservoir.
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