China Improving Yangtze River's Anti-Flood AbilityThe ongoing embankment construction project along the Yangtze River, the longest river in China, will help improve the river's anti-flood ability, a senior engineer said Friday in Wuhu, Anhui Province.Li Sishen, chief engineer of the Bureau for Construction and Management of Yangtze Dikes under the Yangtze River Water Resources Commission, said that the project includes more than 30 flood-control programs along major Yangtze dike sections totaling 2,700 kilometers. The programs will feature seepage prevention, dike reinforcement and bank protection in the four provinces of Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi and Anhui, which suffered huge losses in the 1998 Yangtze floods. China began to carry out the project in 1999 with a budget of 10 billion yuan. It will be completed in three to five years. In 1999, a total of 1.48 billion yuan was used to reinforce 146. 2 kilometers of dikes. Another 1.9 billion yuan was invested in 2000 and most of the work will be completed before this year's flood season begins. |
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