China's Ningxia on ice jam alert in Yellow River

Aerial photo taken on Dec. 30, 2021 shows the frozen surface of the Yellow River in Shizuishan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)

YINCHUAN, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- Since early this month, Li Yucun has put himself and his team on high alert over the construction safety of a high-speed railway crossing the Yellow River.

During winter, spectacular ice jam scenes dominate the northern section of the Yellow River, which flows through northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. But for local people, it is not a tourist attraction but a cause of floods.

Li, an official of the regional emergency management department, has been supervising the control of ice jams in the river, particularly in the meandering section between Ningxia and north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, historically known as dangerous for causing floods.

"We are foreseeing and judging all possible floods caused by ice jams. With meticulous management and control, we have prevented incidents from taking place for five years," Li said.

The new high-speed railway under construction will cross a bridge from Ningxia into Inner Mongolia at the Shizuishan area in the northern part of Ningxia.

From mid-December each year, the Yellow River freezes in its section flowing through the Shizuishan area. At this time, the water level will drastically and rapidly rise by three to four meters on average and can flood the area along it and damage dams, dykes, and bridges.

"We've been consolidating dykes, getting rid of any construction blocking water flow, and removing floating bridges to make sure that rising water will not overwhelm the dykes," said Wu Sen with the river and canal management office of Huinong District in Shizuishan City.

Wu recalled that in 2000, the river rose by eight meters overnight and caused flooding in over 267 hectares of land.

"It's difficult to carry out rescue and restoration operations if ice jams cause flooding. This year, we have organized a team of 200 to watch changes in water levels and intensity of ice jams day and night," he said.

Every year before the ice flood season, departments in the region will take precautions in advance. Early in December this year, the regional water conservancy department repaired the flood control facilities at the river sections and organized 14 rescue teams to update and supplement emergency supplies.

"The Yellow River is our 'mother river.' Our country has invested a large amount of money and manpower to build standardized guards on both sides of the Yellow River and clean up illegal buildings affecting flood discharge in recent years. Various monitoring facilities have been built on both sides of the Yellow River to strengthen prevention by scientific and technological means," Li said.

Historically, ice jams have caused floods along the Yellow River. From 1855 to 1955, 29 ice jam disasters were recorded. The latest major disaster caused by ice jams in the Ningxia-Inner Mongolia section of the Yellow River took place in 1951.