Demolition of the cofferdam protecting the just-completed Three Gorges Dam starts at 4:00 on Tuesday afternoon in Yichang, central China's Hubei Province, June 6, 2006. (Xinhua Photo) Watch Video>>

¡¤ Three Gorges Project improves shipping on Yangtze River     YICHANG, June 6 (Xinhua) -- The Three Gorges Dam Project has played a significant role in improving navigation conditions and increasing shipping capacity in China's Yangtze River. Full Story>> ¡¤ Underwater demolition removes Three Gorges Project's last cofferdam     THREE GORGES DAM SITE, Hubei Province, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Demolition of the last cofferdam protecting the just-completed main wall of the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest, started at 4:00 on Tuesday afternoon in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, China's longest. Full Story>>

Latest Development ¡¤ No damage to Three Gorges dam   THREE GORGES DAM SITE, Hubei, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Data from monitoring equipment show the dam and power plant of the massive Three Gorges Project were undamaged by Tuesday's massive explosion that demolished the nearby cofferdam. ¡¤ Three Gorges Dam takes 1st strain     BEIJING, June 6 -- The Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest dam, takes the strain for the first time today when the temporary dam that has protected it throughout construction is demolished. ¡¤ Explosives Demolishing Three Gorges cofferdam to take round 12 seconds     THREE GORGES DAM SITE, Hubei Province, June 5 (Xinhua) -- The demolition of the last cofferdam protecting the just-completed Three Gorges Dam set for June 6 will take only about 12 seconds with explosive enough to topple down 400 10-storey buildings, said a senior project designer here on Monday.  ¡¤ Eight turbogenerators to be shut down      THREE GORGES DAM SITE, Hubei, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Eight of the 14 turbogenerators now operational on the northern bank of the Yangtze River will be shut down temporarily when workers trigger off explosives to blast away the Three Gorges cofferdam connected to the southern bank of the river Tuesday afternoon. ¡¤ Cofferdam demolition not to endanger main wall of dam       THREE GORGES DAM SITE, Hubei Province, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Measures have been taken to keep the just-completed main wall of the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest, safe and sound against the demolition of the project's last cofferdam, which is due for Tuesday afternoon.  ¡¤ Monitoring equipment to ensure safe demolition of cofferdam     YICHANG, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Workers began to install monitoring equipment on Saturday to ensure the safe demolition of the last cofferdam built for the construction of China's Three Gorges Dam.  ¡¤ Explosives set to demolish last cofferdam in Three Gorges     YICHANG, Hubei Province, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Demolition experts on Friday finished setting explosives to demolish the last cofferdam built in the construction of central China's Three Gorges dam.  ¡¤ Last cofferdam protecting Three Gorges Dam to be demolished     YICHANG, Hubei, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Demolition experts on Thursday were continuing to set explosives that will later this week create a massive explosion to demolish the last cofferdam protecting the just-completed Three Gorges Dam. ¡¤ Temporary cofferdam at Three Gorges Project to be demolished     YICHANG, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The temporary cofferdam at the site of the third-stage of construction of the Three Gorges Dam is to be demolished on June 6, said China Three Gorges Project Corporation. Backgrounder   The concrete cofferdam crucial to the operation of world's largest hydroelectric power project on the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River was completed 55 days ahead of schedule on Wednesday April 16, 2003.  The cofferdam, which has been in use since 2003, is 580 meters long and 140 meters high.   About 192 tons of dynamite have been placed below the waterline to demolish the dam above the 110-meter mark, a total of 186,000 cubic meters of concrete.   Construction of the Three Gorges Dam, on the Yangtze River in Hubei Province, was completed on May 20, 2006.