From Environment News Service (link):
The moment of truth for the world’s largest dam will arrive on June 6. The main concrete wall of the Three Gorges dam on the Yangtze River must begin to hold water after a temporary cofferdam is demolished in a series of planned explosions.
The last of three cofferdams used in building the massive dam, the 140 meter (460 feet) high and 580 meter (.3 mile) long cofferdam generated power for construction crews building the main dam’s right bank and served as a temporary barrier, excluding water from an area of the main dam that will soon be submerged.
The final concrete was poured for the dam’s main wall on May 20, so the cofferdam is no longer needed, and preparations for the June 6 blasting operation have been completed, said a source with the China Three Gorges Project Corporation.
