1999年长江洪水及几点认识

The 1999 Flood on Changjiang River and Some Thoug hts on It

Following the basin wide heavy flood on Changjiang River in 1998, a si gnificant flood occurred in 1999. Comparative analysis of both floods in terms of flows and flooding situations shows that both floods had one common feature, that is, the flood stages were fairly high. But they differed greatly at the sa me time, that is, the 1998 flood was a basin wide heavy one while the 1999 flood was a significant local one. At Yichang station there occurred eight flood pea ks in 1998, while in 1999 only three peaks took place. The maximum peak dischar ge at this station in 1999 was 57 600 cubic meters per second, which was smaller than that in 1998. The maximum flood-volume in 30 d of the 1998 flood at this s t ation equaled that in 1954, when an extraordinary heavy flood happened on the River, while the maximum flood-volume in 30 d in 1999 was 25.8 billion cubic me t ers per second smaller than the 1998 one. It is seen that inflow floods from th e upstream Changjiang River (above Yichang) in 1999 were not so big. Comparison of flood volumes in longer period shows that the 1999 flood was relatively conc entrated while the 1998 one had lasted longer duration. Analysis shows that flo oding situations in both years differed significantly in terms of the flood volu mes diverted from river channels due to dyke breaches and collapses, the cases o f polder embankment collapses, the areas of inundated cultivated land and the nu mbers of dangerous events for hydraulic structures. These differences had been resulted from the different properties of both floods and the dyke strengthening efforts made after the 1998 flood. It is seen that flood control engineering c onstructions initiated in the days following the 1998 flood have played an impor tant role in fighting the 1999 flood.