China apparently has quite a few dams that were built during the 1950s, that are not up to modern standards. Watch: Typhoon Maysak breaks dam wall in China, kills 2 and forces thousands to evacuate
Tropical Storm Maysak, initially brought days of extreme rainfall across the country's southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous region. But now, the typhoon has triggered a massive flood that claimed two lives, affecting about 55,000 people in Nanning and forcing around 48,000 of the city's residents to evacuate
The dam was breached on 6 July.
Maysak has triggered multiple reservoir emergencies, increased river levels above warning levels and flooded several villages across Guangxi.
Some info on the dam. Liulan Reservoir: A medium-sized reservoir located in Hengzhou City, Nanning.
The construction of the Liulan Reservoir hub project began in August 1958 and was largely completed by 1960. A hydropower station was added at the dam's toe in 1974. In August 2024, the Nanning Municipal Government Service Bureau issued an approval regarding the implementation plan for the standardized management creation of Liulan Reservoir in Hengzhou City . In 2025, the Liulan Reservoir Irrigation District Continuation and Modernization Renovation Project was also accelerating its progress, with a total estimated investment of 382.53 million yuan for the project.
Translation: They realized that the dam need improvements, and began work. That work was scheduled to be complete in 2027, but they didn't make it.
I can't find the reference now, but I read somewhere that China has a large number of infrastructure projects done in the early days of communist regieme, that were not really engineered. That process continued for a long time. They are now dealing with infrastructure, in some parts of the country, that are not what we would consider safe.
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous region is in the south of China, with a coast on the Beibu Gulf (off the South China Sea). It shares a border with Vietnam
NOW: A devastating situation is unfolding as Liulan Reservoir collapses following heavy rainfall from Typhoon Maysak in Hengzhou, Nanning, Guangxi, China. pic.twitter.com/vyuQn5nuyl
— Weather Monitor (@WeatherMonitors) July 6, 2026
Many of our dams here aren't any better...we have badly neglected infrastructure.
ReplyDeleteWe have bad infrastructure. But for the most part, dams built in the 20th Century were at least looked at by engineers, especially after the few notable failures in California. Dams in China were mostly built by peasants under the Communist idea that they workers could do no wrong
DeleteThe dam looks like just packed earth - I'm surprised it lasted that long.
ReplyDeleteThey were built by peasants with shovels. I'm surprised it had a concrete core. I'm sure that the dirt wasn't properly compacted.
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