Leaky dam on Yangtze River to get urgent repair

An emergency repair has been operated on China's Gezhou Dam, which has a serious leak of water caused by a horizontal penetrating crack that appeared on a gate in the No.3 ship lock. [File photo]

An emergency repair will be operated on China's Gezhou Dam on Yangtze River, which has a serious leak of water caused by a horizontal penetrating crack that appeared on a gate in the No.3 ship lock.

The emergency repair will be launched around 1:00 pm Monday and it may take five days to restore the leaky dam.

The leakage is difficult to be stopped and puts the dam in potential jeopardy, according to the Three Gorges Navigation Administration.

The administration has made arrangement of the navigation of ships through the number 1 and 2 locks and will notify ships of navigation coordination plans via the Internet, GPS terminals, text messages and fax.

China finished building the Gezhou Dam in 1988, the first of its kind on the main body of the Yangtze River.