Construction at Three Gorges Proceeds SmoothlyOfficials with China Yangtze Three Gorges Project Development Co. said Wednesday in Beijing that the construction of the Three Gorges project is running smoothly as scheduled.According to the officials, who were present at Wednesday's signing ceremony for the international bidding of the hydropower station on the left bank of the Three Gorges, the construction work has entered its second phase, following the seven-year first phase. The Three Gorges project, which started seven years ago, has so far received about 49.7 billion yuan (5.9 billion US dollars) of investment on capital assets. So far, 168,822,900 cubic meters of earth and stone have been dug, and 12,520,200 cubic meters of concrete laid. The officials stated that the quality of work was good on the whole, and all the funding has been used as planned. In 2003, the first group of electricity generators are expected to be operational, the reservoir will be filled, and the permanent shipping lock in working order, they said. The total scheduled investment for this year hit 12.88 billion yuan (1.55 US dollars), and 3.12 billion yuan (376 million US dollars) has been used in the first four months of 2000. Also during the past four months, construction workers have dug about 1, 365,800 cubic meters of earth and stone, and laid 1,959,000 cubic meters of concrete for the principal part of the project, accounting for 45 percent and 38 percent each of the year's plan. |
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