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Three Gorges: cofferdam demolition a success

— PHOTO: AP

SENTINEL GIVES WAY: The last cofferdam protecting the just-completed main wall of Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River is blown up in China's Hubei Province on Tuesday.

THREE GORGES DAM SITE (China): Demolition of the last cofferdam upstream of the just-completed main wall of the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest, started at 4 p.m. on Tuesday in the middle reaches of the Yangtze river, China's longest, with enough explosives to topple 400 10-storey buildings.

The operation took just 12 seconds, causing nearly 190,000 cubic metres of concrete fragments from the upper 30-metres section of the cofferdam to tumble into the river.

Li Yong'an, general manager of the China Yangtze River Three Gorges Project Development Corp., announced the success of the demolition.

S. Thomson, an Australian explosion expert invited by the project authorities, said the cofferdam demolition was ``the toughest blast in the world and a long blast with little charges.''

The removal of the cofferdam means the main wall of the Three Gorges project will formally begin its role in flood control, which will be two years ahead of schedule, according to Mr. Li. It, together with the northern section of the main dam, helped the reservoir to store water to the level of 135 metres.

While the upper 30-metres section of the cofferdam has been demolished, the underwater part, 110 metres in height, is retained as a protective structure for the main dam. — Xinhua

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