The Costs Of Leap Forward:The Rise And Fall Of The Quality Accident Of Engineering In Xinan (1957-1960)

In April of 1957, Xinanjiang hydraulic power project was put into operation officially. With the support of Soviet Union in terms of expert, technology and equipment, it coincided with the Great Leap Forward, which was initiated by Mao Zedong. The movement aimed to overtake the UK and USA in a greater, faster, better and more economical manner. The project did not make much progress after having been in operation for three years. At the end of the year, the task required of the project had been intensified more than once together with the movement of the Great Leap Forward. However, both the Ministry of Water Resources and Electrical Power and Zhejiang Provincial Government had encountered much difficulty in providing the material resources necessary for the project. Coupled with the change in the leadership system after the movement as well as the overlapped management between the Central Government, relevant ministry and Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee, it had caused great trouble to the quality and progress of the project.Hence, it has posed a hazard to the project quality. At the end of 1958, the Central Government started to take measures to tackle the industrial chaos left by the Great Leap Forward. At that time, the basic policies regarding the Great Leap Forward remained unchanged. The effort to put Xinanjiang hydraulic power project back on track did not turn out as expected. In April of 1959, the Central Government made the further decision to concentrate on the major projects for industrial construction. In June, the ministry in charge put an end to the progress-oriented approach taken by those Zhejiang-based projects. It would also give Xinanjiang hydraulic power project more than two months to make the correction. Therefore, it was critical to the improvement of project quality and also prevented a series of serious quality-related accidents.