A groundbreaking ceremony was held on Sunday for a pair of tunnels
that will traverse the Yellow River as part of a massive
south-to-north water diversion project reaching as far as Beijing.
The two tunnels will be 4,250 meters long and have a diameter of
seven meters. They will pass underneath the Yellow River to the
west of Zhengzhou, the provincial capital of Henan Province, according to builders.
One of the tunnels is scheduled for completion in March
2009.
In 2002, the Chinese government approved the water diversion
project, which aims to relieve severe water shortages in parched
northern areas.
The project will bring water from the Yangtze River, China's
longest river, along three routes to the east, west, and center of
the country.
Construction has already begun on the eastern and central
routes, with a total investment of 200 billion yuan (US$26
billion).
The more expensive central route carrying water from the Yangtze
to Beijing will cost 137 billion yuan (about US$18 billion).
Its eastern route will divert water from the lower reaches of
the Yellow River to north China's Tianjin Municipality, while the western route
is still in the planning stages.
(Xinhua News Agency July 9, 2007)
