China began an inspection on the dam on the right bank of the Three Gorges Project on the Yangtze River at Yichang, central China's Hubei Province on Sunday.

A team of 43 experts were dispatched by the Three Gorges Project Construction Committee under the State Council  to inspect the quality of the work. .

The inspection will last until May 23, said Ding Qihua of the China Yangtze River Three Gorges Project Development Corporation, who are responsible for the project.

By then the expert team will have made a final appraisal about whether or not the right bank dam is sufficiently strong to hold water, Ding said.

Construction for the giant hydropower dam was expected to finish on May 20, nine months ahead of schedule, Cao Guangjing, deputy general manager of the China Yangtze River Three Gorges Project Development Corporation, said a week ago.

The completion of the construction, 2,309 meters long and 185 meters high, marks the principal part of the project, said Cao.

Launched in 1993, the Three Gorges Project, including the dam and 26 generators on both banks of the Yangtze, is scheduled for completion in 2009 and it will be capable of generating 84.7 billion kwh of electricity annually.

(China Daily May 15, 2006)