The Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest dam, takes the strain for the first time today when the temporary dam that has protected it throughout construction is demolished.

A network of electronic triggers was completed on Sunday for today's demolition of the last cofferdam holding back the Yangtze upstream from the Three Gorges Dam in Yichang, Central China's Hubei Province.

The electronic trigger network is attached to 2,540 detonators, which will set off nearly 1,000 consecutive explosions using a total of 192 tons of dynamite to blow up the cofferdam.

Zhang Chaoran, chief engineer of the China Yangtze Three Gorges Project Development Co, said the demolition was a challenging job, but he was confident it would be a success.

Song Ling, general manager of Chongqing Gezhouba Yipuli Chemical Company, who will oversee the demolition, told the Xinhua News Agency that all preparatory work was now completed.

Zhao Gen, a senior engineer with the Yangtze River Academic Institute and designer of the demolition project, said the demolition of the vast temporary dam would only take about 12 seconds.

The removal of the cofferdam means the Three Gorges Dam, completed on May 20 this year, will begin its flood control role two years ahead of schedule and in time for the 2006 flood season, which usually begins in June.

The cofferdam, which has held the reservoir since 2003, is 580 metres long, 140 metres high and 8 metres wide at the top.

Debris from the explosion has been estimated at 180,000 cubic metres.

The Three Gorges Dam has been engineered to prevent and control floods and "even in the rare occurrence of a 1,000 year flood, mass damages or injuries can still be prevented," according to Zhang.

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