The just-completed blasts to demolish buildings in China's Three
Gorges area were successful, local sources announced Sunday in
Fengjie County, southwest China's Chongqing Municipality.
Explosion expert Xue Fengsong said that the buildings collapsed in
just a few seconds, causing no casualty.
Sources said that 3,200 holes were drilled in the power plant
buildings and a 21-meter high office building. A total of 168 kg of
explosives was used Sunday to tear down the buildings, as part of
the efforts to clear up the reservoir area of the on-going Three
Gorges Project, the world largest water control project.
The explosions were carried out by an engineering team from the
University of Technology of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
The team is one of the best qualified in China for conducting
industrial and civil explosions. Since the explosion sites were
located in densely populated areas, organizers ran an educational
TV program on the local TV station for a whole week, to inform
local residents about the details of the directed blasting
processso as to relieve their worries.
Local people said their normal life has not been affected by the
explosions.
(Xinhua News
Agency January 20, 2002)