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Urban Area of Tianjin Continues Sinking
The ground of the urban area of Tianjin, a major manufacturing center in North China, has been sinking at an average annual rate of 10 mm since 1959.
Since then the highest sinking depth scored in the urban area has exceeded two meters, according to official statistics.
Land sinking has been going in a 7,300 sq km plain area south of Baodi County administered by Tianjin Municipality.
Experts attribute the city's land sinking primarily to excessive pumping of underground water to ease acute water shortages in the city.
Since 1985 the Tianjin municipal authorities have taken a series of measures to control land sinking, such as closing wells, pumping water into underground and adjusting the ground water pumping layout£¬ as well as expansion of waterworks, and construction of seepage-proof ditches and small reservoirs.
As a result, the sinking speed has been reduced substantially, from 76 mm in the urban area on average in 1985 to 10 mm annually.
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