(December 8, 1998) ‘Although the waves caused by explosion were a little stronger than predicted, the dam and the power plant were unharmed,’ said Wu Xinxia, head of the demolition team that blew up the top 30 metres of the Three Gorges cofferdam.

Data from monitoring equipment show the dam and power plant of the massive Three Gorges Project were undamaged by Tuesday’s massive explosion that demolished the nearby cofferdam.

The 580-meter-long and 140-meter-high cofferdam protecting the just-completed main wall of the Three Gorges Dam was demolished Tuesday afternoon by a 13-second blast of 191 tons of explosives, enough to topple 400 10-storey buildings.

“Although the waves caused by explosion were a little stronger than predicted, the dam and the power plant were unharmed,” said Wu Xinxia, head of the demolition under the Yangtze River Academy of Sciences.

The power plant now operating in the dam’s northern section remained undamaged by the explosion, said Ma Zhenbo, head of the Three Gorges Power Plant.

Prior to the explosion special devises were used to scare fish away and this move also proved successful as no dead fish were found, said Cao Guangjing, deputy general manager of the China Yangtze River Three Gorges Development Corporation.

The construction of the mammoth Three Gorges project started in 1994, and its major structure, the 185-meter-high main dam, was completed on May 20.

Following the dismantling of the cofferdam the Three Gorges Dam is now playing its role in flood control on the Yangtze River.

Xinhua, December 8, 1998