China dam tested

BEIJING – Flood waters are putting China’s massive Three Gorges Dam to the test and raising water levels on its longest river, the Yangtze, after weeks of floods nationwide killed about 700 people, state media said yesterday.

Water is being released from the reservoir behind the world’s largest hydroelectric project through giant sluice gates, raising water levels downstream. The central province of Hubei was on alert as the flood crest was expected to reach or exceed levels that would trigger flood warnings, Xinhua news agency said.”The Three Gorges Dam has opened 18 sluices and the water level in the reservoir will continue to rise,” Xinhua quoted a worker at the dam’s operation department as saying.”The safety of the dam will be tested.”Water was pouring into the Three Gorges reservoir, which stretches for hundreds of kilometres through narrow gorges, at 51 000 cubic metres per second, and could rise to 56 700 cubic metres per second yesterday.The sluice gates will release water at 48 000 cubic metres per second.Nampa-ReutersThe central province of Hubei was on alert as the flood crest was expected to reach or exceed levels that would trigger flood warnings, Xinhua news agency said.”The Three Gorges Dam has opened 18 sluices and the water level in the reservoir will continue to rise,” Xinhua quoted a worker at the dam’s operation department as saying.”The safety of the dam will be tested.”Water was pouring into the Three Gorges reservoir, which stretches for hundreds of kilometres through narrow gorges, at 51 000 cubic metres per second, and could rise to 56 700 cubic metres per second yesterday.The sluice gates will release water at 48 000 cubic metres per second.Nampa-Reuters