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| East Asia |
| Stability of the Three Gorges Dam |
| 2004-01-31 |
| Has anyone heard anything about the cracks, the stability of the dam or the risk of the dam going in terms of damage to the PRC? Tangentially, does anyone know about the configuration of the Aswan High Dam? |
| Posted by:Mahmoud, the Weasel |
| #14 Here is a site I get weekly emails from concerning 3 gorges dam. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-1-31 11:34:15 PM |
| #13 Gents, a bit more history. I am US born and bred. Came here with major US petroleum company. Home is Phoenix, AZ. BTW, the dam is now filling so sediment build up is years away, if ever. To Zhang Fei, Zhu ni hao yunqi! |
| Posted by: TW 2004-1-31 7:29:03 PM |
| #12 It's the water pressure behind the dam that does them in. Even the vaunted British dam-busters had to do it two or three times to hit the dam just right to cause a problem. Of course, all bets are off with a nuke, which would vaporize the majority of that concrete, and leave the rest extremely weakened. It's also relevant to the discussion that we're talking about two different kinds of dams with the Three Gorges (a high dam) and Aswan (although called a "high" dam, is really a low dam). I read an estimate once that a one-megaton dirty nuke at the power plant at Aswan would result in the loss of 70 percent of ALL LIFE between the dam and Cyprus, and poison most of the eastern Med. It's something that should not be considered lightly, perhaps only in a worst-case scenario. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2004-1-31 7:25:28 PM |
| #11 Well the thing about dam's or for that matter any very large structure is that often times you won't know theres a flaw (serious or minor) till quite a bit of time has passed. A question I want answered is how much sediment has been piling up at the base of the dam these days? |
| Posted by: Val 2004-1-31 12:56:17 PM |
| #10 Because last year it was a Rantburg discussion that there were cracks in it and then the topic went silent, then a small dam in the North blew up, and now there is nothing again. |
| Posted by: Mahmoud, the Weasel 2004-1-31 12:26:18 PM |
| #9 ZF--Make a note to warn Chiner and his family beforehand, please! LOL. I live in NYC - a natural target for any nuclear strike, whether from nuclear powers (China, Russia, North Korea, et al) or Muslim terrorists. I'm resigned to it - I could move, but my job is here and my family and friends are all here. Anywhere that a foreigner would be in China (typically the major cities) is going to be a target for a US retaliatory nuclear strike if China does actually carry out its threat to nuke LA, NYC or a US carrier battle group. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2004-1-31 10:35:02 AM |
| #8 ZF--Make a note to warn Chiner and his family beforehand, please! |
| Posted by: Dar 2004-1-31 10:22:09 AM |
| #7 If I recall correctly, Zang Fei lives in NYC. I'm indeed from NYC. I know nothing about the dam that's not available from public sources. As with the Allied experience in WWII, dams are vulnerable to precision air attacks. If we ever get into a war of annihilation with China, I suspect the Three Gorges Dam would be at the top of the target list, except we'd probably hit it with a nuke, not JDAM's. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2004-1-31 9:49:42 AM |
| #6 If I recall correctly, Zang Fei lives in NYC. |
| Posted by: Gasse Katze 2004-1-31 8:32:29 AM |
| #5 Wow,don't remember somebody living in China has visited here before. Zang,are you a U.S. resident? |
| Posted by: Raptor 2004-1-31 7:06:33 AM |
| #4 Wow,don't remember somebody living in China has visited here before. |
| Posted by: Raptor 2004-1-31 7:02:29 AM |
| #3 MTW, why do you care? |
| Posted by: phil_b 2004-1-31 6:00:02 AM |
| #2 Is it vulnerable to collapse/Earthquake/JDAM? |
| Posted by: Mahmoud, the Weasel 2004-1-31 3:52:08 AM |
| #1 I live and work here in China, and have for almost 8 years. I'm a construction consultant. I have seen the cracks there as well as other sites where mass concrete has been placed. I don't think the cracks are stress fractures, or bad concrete. Perhaps some dehydration problems thru inattentive curing procedures. I must say the sheer size of that thing floors me. I never took a picture. It's like taking a picture of a skyscraper from 5 feet away. Chine |
| Posted by: Chiner 2004-1-31 3:17:32 AM |