China's Three Gorges Dam withstands peak flood test

New Delhi, July 20 (ANI): The Three Gorges Dam on China's Yangtze River was holding up against its first major flood-control test Tuesday, officials of the China Three Gorges Corporation said.

The dam project stood its biggest flood-control test at 8 a.m. Tuesday since completion, as the flow on the river's upper reached a top speed of 70,000 cubic meters a second, Xinhua reported.

The flow was 20,000 cubic meters more than the flow during the 1998 floods that killed 4,150 people and the highest level since the dam was completed last year.

The flow peak is however still below the record high of 70,800 cubic meters per second recorded in 1981, a spokesman with the corporation said.

All ferry services were halted at the Three Gorges Dam on Monday and the 30-km exclusive road along the river had been opened to vehicles carrying shipping cargoes, said an official of the Three Gorges Navigation Administration.

Services would be resumed after the influx decreased from 70,000 to 45,000 cubic meters per second, the official said. (ANI)