Diversion work completed in largest barrier lake

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Source: CCTV.com | 06-01-2008 14:58

The critical diversion project to drain Tangjiashan barrier lake in quake-hit Sichuan province has been completed. Tangjiashan barrier lake was the largest of its kind. Such quake-lakes were formed when rivers were blocked by landslides triggered by the massive earthquake. Nearly 200,000 residents living downstream in the city of Mianyang have been evacuated to safer areas in case Tianjiashan lake overflows it banks.

The critical diversion project to drain Tangjiashan  barrier lake in quake-hit Sichuan province has been  completed.(Photo: CCTV.com)

By 10 pm on Saturday, about 135,500 cubic meters of mud and rocks had been removed from the Tangjiashan barrier lake. For six consecutive days and nights, soldiers from the armed police and experts have been working here against extremely adverse conditions. Their combined efforts have created a 475-meter-long, 12-meter wide channel - to divert waters from the giant blockage. Originally, the channel was only supposed to be 10 meters wide.

Jiao Yong, vice minister of Ministry of Water Resources, said, "The wider the diversion channel is, the more water it's capable of channeling out. Even if the channel is only one meter wider than the original plan, it will be able to divert 5 to 6 million more cubic meters of water from the lake."

The critical diversion project to drain Tangjiashan  barrier lake in quake-hit Sichuan province has been  completed.(Photo: CCTV.com)

Since the diversion channel was completed in time, authorities decided to abandon a back-up plan to clear an opening in the blockage with explosives. The water level of the lake has been rising about 1.6 meters each day. It is expected that the rising water will run over the blockage and be channeled out through the man-made canal in 2 or 3 days.