Zhejiang reconstructs 2,000 km of seawalls

A section of coastline in Cangnan county, Zhejiang province [Photo/zj.zjol.com.cn]

In recent days, construction has been carried out on seawalls in numerous coastal cities across East China's Zhejiang province.

With its coastline stretching 6,486 kilometers and the high tides along the coastline reaching three meters above sea level on average, Zhejiang has been vulnerable to typhoons for thousands of years. To fend off such disasters, Zhejiang residents have been building seawalls generation after generation.

In 1997, a severe typhoon landed in Wenling and damaged 770 km of seawalls, causing 18.6 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) in direct economic losses. The catastrophe prompted the provincial government to build a new seawall that year. Three years later, a 1,020-km standard seawall took shape, concluding the mega project. Not a single section of the seawall has ever been destroyed since then.

However, a consistent growth in the population and economy of the province's coastal regions as well as Chinese people's growing consciousness of environmental protection over the past two decades have finally motivated the provincial government to build a safer and more eco-friendly seawall that stretches 2,000 km, as it announced the investment plan in May this year.