Giant dam to be completed in two weeks
(xinhua)
Updated: 2006-05-08 08:37 Construction for the giant dam of the Three Gorges
hydropower project on the Yangtze River is expected to finish on May 20, an
executive with the China Yangtze River Three Gorges Project Development
Corporation said yesterday.
"There are less than 3,000 cubic meters of concrete left to be placed before
the dam will finally complete nine months ahead of the schedule," said Cao
Guangjing, deputy general manager of the corporation.
Construction of the 2,309-meter-long and 185-meter-high dam began in 1998.
Launched in 1994, the Three Gorges Project, including the dam and 26
generators is planned to be completed in 2009 and by then, it will be able to
generate 84.7 billion kwh of electricity annually.
Meanwhile, the main part of the underwater museum for the Baiheliang, the
world's oldest water survey device which will be submerged once the Three Gorges
reservoir is filled, has been completed.
Baiheliang, the 1.6-kilometer-long massive reef important for observing water
level changes, has been covered by an elliptical transparent shield so visitors
in the future can still see it.
The whole construction project of the underwater museum is expected to be
finished by June, 2007.
Located at the upper reaches of the Yangtze, Baiheliang only emerges from the
water during the dry season. Therefore, it was a very important marker for
ancestors to observe the changes of the water level.
On the massive reef, there are more than 20 fish sculptures, serving as
water-level markers. About 30,000 characters of poems are also left on the
stone.
The stone inscriptions on Baiheliang recorded about 1,200 consecutive years
of the river's water levels during the dry seasons as well as its low water
periods.
|