A dam, considered close to collapse, will be demolished in south China's Guangdong Province, provincial authorities said Tuesday.
The dam of the Qianfeng Hydraulic Power Plant in Xinyi City was severely damaged by floods triggered by typhoon Fanapi, and might collapse anytime, threatening tens of thousands of villagers, said Kuang Mingyong, spokesman for Guangdong' s water affairs authorities.
"Consolidation and repair work cannot solve the problem, it must be blown up," he said.
The dam is 28.5 meters high and can hold 1.1 million cubic meters of water.
"The dam is to be torn down gradually with two explosions a day Wednesday and Thursday so that water and mud from the dam will not flood the area", said Huang Biao, chief engineer of the water affairs department of Maoming City that administrates Xinyi.
