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Millions of won-wons will be lost if we nuke Three Gorges
Most will remember the
controversy during Vietnam about bombing North Vietnam's dike
system. Would have caused a complete collapse of the North's
ability to grow rice, and lead to starvation and capitulation.
Needless to say, we did not. Worse, we announced that we would
not. Fast forward.
I watched the most fascinating (2 hour long, I think) documentary
on Planet Green last
night, about building the Three Gorges Dam. Yes, I know, this
Discovery Channel offshoot is devoted to selling every crackpot
enviro-wacko plan on earth. It's what Al Gore was prolly thinking
when he started Current
(which I hear is now showing Three's
A Company reruns 24-7). But I digress.
The first thing that struck me was what China was willing to do
in order to treble its industrial output with a super navigable Yangtze
River. 1) Bury under water forever 5000 years of Chinese culture
and artifacts; 2) Displace millions of their poorest people who
absolutely did not want to leave. Our government won't even let
us drill for oil. But, this is the fun part, and what I wanted to
tell you.
The narrator noted that if the mile-long dam should collapse, it would
kill millions, and send the Chinese economy back to the stone age
(where it was before Clinton became president). Ahem. Hu
ought be bowing
to whom?
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HOOOOWAAAA!!!! An Avro Lancaster modified for dambusting!!!
ReplyDeleteMight I volunteer as tail gunner when comes the time?
Brigadier Major Mike
Given the tendency of the ChiComs to cut corners, you may only need nature to take its course for a catastrophic failure. From the Shanghai Scrap blog:
ReplyDeleteLike many expats, I’ve long been suspicious of the building materials utilized in Shanghai’s – and China’s – two-decade construction boom. The concrete, I’ve noticed, seems to crack too quickly; the rebar inside of that concrete has an uncanny tendency to rust and emerge from that cracking concrete too frequently; and the aluminum window frames so beloved for use in China’s highrises seem to corrode with the first humid wind. But it’s one thing to be suspicious of those building materials, and it’s another thing to have actual data on just how bad they are. And, despite my suspicions and best efforts, I’ve never been able to obtain actual data on building material inspections (or results) in Shanghai or elsewhere.
So I must say I was more than a little surprised when my beloved Shanghai Daily ran a story – this morning – containing this jaw-dropping revelation:
HALF the steel material sold at wholesale markets and now being used in construction has failed quality tests.
The Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau inspected 52 batches of steel material at three markets and 15 construction sites in seven districts, including Xuhui, Zhabei and Baoshan, and officials said 27 batches had quality problems.
There are – according to the story – a couple of problems: the steel was often too light (five times too light, in one case) to meet construction standards; 48% of the tested steel lacked sufficient carbon content, rendering the material dangerously brittle; and 22% of the tested products failed tension tests.
Welll I think that I read somewhere that the Chinese government is already sweating about the construction quality/design of the damn. It is supposed to have found cracks in it already. A minor earth quake an you could get a down stream flush.
ReplyDeleteIf that happens they could kiss "The Mandate of Heaven." goodbye.
(quote)There are – according to the story – a couple of problems: the steel was often too light (five times too light, in one case) to meet construction standards;(endquote)
ReplyDeleteSomebody please help this old engineer's brain of mine: WTF is the value of N in the following equation: "five times too light" = N x L where L equals just right? - Skyhawker, Doug
catastrophic failure will only mean that we(US taxpayer) will foot the bill for the rescue and rehab
ReplyDeletegeorge
Quality is a Western European concept. Prove me wrong.
ReplyDeleteCasca
Hmmm, that's not the dam at the Moehnesee, nor the Edersee in the Photo. Must be the Derwent Water (practice terrain in North England).
ReplyDeleteAnd he's a little too high ;-) (or the perspective is a long range shot from the hillside opposite?).
The problem with reports out of China on technical matters is that things get mistranslated. By too light they might mean understregnth by a factor of 5.
ReplyDeleteNo carbon and you have wrought iron, bends to easily, low tensile strength, too much carbon and you have cast iron or steel, way to brittle. From what little I've read they have a tendency to not get the melt hot enough long enough in their processing to get the impurites out. Both their hot roll and cold roll can have interesting bits in it and be short on non-carbon alloying metals, i.e. vandium, chrome, and etc.
"Hey, we met our production quota at a price point lower than our competition, what more do you want besides a bigger kickback?"
One article I read (think it was linked on Alfin's blog some years back) was about steel I-beams weighing far less than they should? What on earth would they substitute iron with to have a result like that? Silicon?
ReplyDeletePrecisely! Our current fear of China is like our fear of Japan in the 80s; China's demise will be swifter and more spectacular. And the fear about debt to China reminds me that if you owe the bank $10,000 and can't pay, you have a problem; but if you owe the bank $100million and can't pay, the bank has a problem. Methinks China has a problem.
ReplyDeleteAnon 2:40 PM - Well done sir/madame
ReplyDeleteStory description sounds like Roosevelt's TVA project.
ReplyDeleteJavert
Javert: They were actually modeling it on the Columbia River dam system, and it's ability to barge materials from Idaho to the Pacific Ocean.
ReplyDeleteMost of the grain they buy comes down that river.
Of course, the Columbia has a bunch of smaller dams and locks. One dam failure is not going to send Portland out to sea.
Would hate to see it collapse and cause "won-ton" destruction.
ReplyDeleteMmmm ... The Dam Busters
ReplyDelete