A key flood control project, the Huaiyuan-Hongze waterway designed
to control floods along the Huaihe River, was completed recently in
east China.
The 125-km waterway, starting in Huaiyuan County in Anhui Province
and ending at the Hongze Lake area in neighboring Jiangsu Province,
is believed to be one of China's longest manmade waterways.
Construction of the waterway began in 1991, when a serious flood
occurred along the Huaihe River, one of China's longest rivers.
Investment in the project totaled 2.5 billion yuan (US$300
million).
Experts say that because of the curving and narrow riverbed, the
middle reaches of the Huaihe River used to face flood discharge
difficulties in summer.
"The waterway will play an important role in flood control, thus
helping protect 660,000 hectares of farmland, the Beijing-Shanghai
railway and the coal mines on the southern bank of the Huaihe
River," the experts
(People’s Daily 12/17/2000)