(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-30 16:31

WUHAN - Chinese engineers are planning to blast rock reefs at the Three Gorges reservoir on the upper Yangtze River to open up a new channel to allow heavy ships to sail directly into Chongqing.

Yangtze River Waterway Bureau director Tang Guanjun said the blasting operation would start in early February and be completed before August on a 32-km section of the 660-km-long reservoir near Chongqing.

The operation was also part of efforts to raise the water level of the reservoir from 156 to 172 meters after the flood season this year, Tang said.

After the blasting, 10,000-ton vessels would be able to sail from the Three Gorges Dam direct to upper Chongqing.

"It will destroy 320,000 cubic meters of reefs with an investment of 90 million yuan (US$12.5 million) from the China Three Gorges Project Corporation," he said.

Since some of the reefs are near downtown Chongqing, a limit will be imposed on the amount of dynamite used for each blast to minimize the impact on the surrounding environment, said Tang.

Previous blasting to clear reefs on a 90-km section of the reservoir had been conducted before the 185-meter-high dam on the hydroelectric project was completed in 2006.

The 22.5-billion-US-dollar Three Gorges hydropower project was launched in 1993. Its 26 turbo-generators are designed to produce 84.7 billion kwh of electricity a year after its scheduled completion this year.

Nineteen turbines are already operating with a total installed capacity of 13.3 million kilowatts.