Three Gorges Project operates safely
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-09-07 21:30

The Three Gorges Project, a multi-purpose water control facility being built on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, has been operating without a glitch since it began water storage on June 1, 2003.

Li Yong'an, general manager of China Yangtze River Project Development and Construction Corporation,said the data regarding aspects such as deformation and seepage of the mega-dam and other major structures were within the allowed band of designing.

"No abnormal phenomenon endangering safety of the structures with the Three Gorges Project has occurred thus far, " said Li.

According to Li, over 10,000 monitors have been added on the northern bank of the Yangtze to observe the situation of the dam, the northern river bank section housing the workshops of generators, the two-way five-tier ship lift,the concrete cofferdambuilt to facilitate third-phase construction, which are all concentrated on or near the northern bank of the river.

And the minor earth-and-stone protection dike built near Maoping upstream the 185-meter-high dam on the southern bank of the river has showed a fine anti-seepage feature.

Launched in 1993, the Three Gorges Project is being built in three stages on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, China's longest. The preparations and construction of the first phase werecarried out between 1993 and 1997.

The Yangtze was dammed at the Three Gorges area for the first time on Nov. 8, 1997. In accordance with the original plan, the Three Gorges Project, with an estimated cost of 180 billion yuan (approximately 21.7 billion US dollars), will have 26 generators with a combined generating capacity of 18.2 million kw.

Up to now, the northern bank of the Yangtze has been installed with 14 turbogenerators, 12 of which have been generating electricity. All of the 12 turbogenerators to be installed on thesouthern bank will be generating electricity by the year 2008, said the corporate sources.

Upon completion in 2009, the Three Gorges Project will be able to generate 84.7 billion kwh of electric power annually.