Over a million people and soldiers were mobilized
to reinforce the vulnerable sections of the dikes
at Huayuankou(near Zhengzhou) during
the 1958 flood(top picture). The river's flow rate
rose from 10,000 cu m per second to 22,300 cu m per
second within days. The peak flow rate was the highest in
the last half century. Since then a concerted effort
was launched to improve on the dikes along the
entire length of river in its lower reaches. Jetties
are added to the dikes to prevent flood water from
eroding the dike foundation (bottom picture).
Picture source: YRCC, Huanghe Feng,
Yellow River Pub House, 1996.