China Battles ‘Quake Lakes’ - ENR | McGraw-Hill Construction

Description:
Chinese engineers and military explosive experts are teaming up to solve a complex problem caused by a huge “quake lake” formed by a landslide from the recent earthquake in Sichuan province. After a trench dug by engineers did not drain the lake fast enough, the military launched “missile attacks” that broke down rocks hindering water flow from the earthquake-formed reservoir to a diversion channel. More than half of the 245 million cu m of water trapped in the lake drained out. The lake posed a risk to the lives of 1.3 million people. A 10-meter-wide, 475-m-long diversion channel had earlier been formed with the hope that the lake water would begin flowing through it. The engineers had not used any blasting device out of ...

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