At a press conference held by the State Council Information Office Thursday, experts pointed out that surface cracks in the Three Gorges Dam don't affect its safety and that there is nothing to worry about.

"Generally speaking, there are different types of dam cracks. Embedded cracks are one kind that might destroy the concrete structure, and accordingly cause safety problems. Fortunately, we don't have such cracks in Three Gorges dam. Another kind of crack, which is shallow and slight, only exists in the surface of the dam. We've found this in the dam," said Pan Jiazheng, head of the expert team under the Three Gorges Project Appraisal Team and member of the expert team of the Three Gorges Project Construction Committee (TGPCC). Pan is also a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Pan explained that lots of reasons contributed to the dam cracks. For example, in the building process, the concrete surface of the Three Gorges dam was not well protected in the winter, or that sharp parts of the dam easily cracked being a design problem. He pointed out that the cracks in the surface of Three Gorges dam didn't affect the dam's safety. But these surface cracks at inner parts of the dam should be well handled, for water can infiltrate through the dam. Currently, these cracks have been carefully dealt with in case of penetration after water storage.

At 10 am June 12, the State Council Information Office held the press conference. Vice director of TGPCC Guo Shuyan and Pan Jiazheng introduced the latest news about the project, and answered correspondent's questions.

(China.org.cn June 12, 2003)