The Three Gorges Project, the world's biggest water control facility, is again in the spotlight as preparations are made for the damming of a canal on November 6 that was built for the passage of ships during the second-phase construction.
Two separate teams have been working around the clock to build two cofferdams - the upstream one 150 meters in length and the downstream one 125 meters, according to the Yangtze River Three Gorges Project Development Corp.
Visitors are coming from around the world to the construction site to view the canal damming.
An American couple have been staying at a four-star hotel in Yichang, Hubei Province, learning about the Three Gorges Project, which is bigger than the Hoover Dam in the United States.
However, many latecomers are having to check into hotels far from the dam site.
A media scrum is developing after the press center of the Yangtze River Three Gorges Project Development Corporation announced that only 100 reporters will be allowed to cover the damming event though hundreds of journalists working with domestic and overseas media have gathered around Yichang for the event, said the China Youth Daily.
The manmade canal, 350 meters wide and 3.7 kilometers long, is near the southern bank of the Yangtze River, where the first two phases of the Three Gorges Project are concentrated mainly along the northern bank.
Sun Zhiyu, supervisor in charge of damming the canal, said that workers have prepared 4.6 million cubic meters of materials, including a large number of boulders, for the damming on November 6.
Following the damming, the Yangtze's water will mainly be discharged via 22 water diversion holes at the lower part of the dam, each 6 meters wide by 8.5 meters high. Ships and boats will pass through the dam area via the temporary ship lock.
The damming of the canal will make way for the third phase of construction on the 665-meter section on the southern bank of the Yangtze to complete the 2,309-meter-long and 185-meter-high dam.
The gigantic Three Gorges Project is situated 40 kilometers from Yichang. Construction began in 1993 and will be completed in 2009, when 26 generating units with a combined capacity of 18.2 million kilowatts will be put into operation. The permanent locks will also be able to accommodate ships of more than 10,000 DWT (dead weight tonnage) by that time.
The first group of four generating units will begin operation next year.
(eastday.com October 31, 2002)
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