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Work on world's largest dam completed

Hydroelectric project goes on stream 10 months ahead of schedule

THREE GORGES DAM SITE (CHINA): China completed construction of the world's largest dam on Saturday in Three Gorges area, central China's Hubei province, signifying a milestone accomplishment that aims to tame the flood-prone Yangtze river, the nation's longest.

At 2 p.m. on Saturday, as the final concrete was poured for main wall of the Three Gorges Dam, shouts of joy broke out before a brief celebration ceremony was held.

The concrete placement of the dam's main section was completed 10 months ahead of schedule, which will enable the dam to start its role in power generation, flood control and shipping in 2008, one year ahead of the designated time.

After the cofferdam is demolished on June 6, the dam's main wall, often compared to the Great Wall in its scale, will formally begin to hold water, protecting 15 million people and 1.5 million hectares of farm land downstream from floods, which had haunted the Yangtze river valley for thousands of years. — Xinhua

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