As of Tuesday noon, 26 sets of machines, five tons of fuel and 157 workers had been airlifted to the lakeside while about 1,200 soldiers arrived on foot carrying ten tons of equipment and explosives.

The lake is inaccessible by road and can only be reached by foot or air.

A helicopter airlifts relief materials to the Tangjiashan lakeside on May 27, 2008.

A soldier guards the dynamite at the Tangjiashan quake-lake on Tuesday, May 27, 2008.