China has completed construction of the main wall of the Three
Gorges Dam - the world's largest hydro-electric project.
Builders marked the occasion with a colourful celebration
ceremony The controversial dam in central Hubei province will
not be fully operational until 2009, once all its generators are
installed. China says it will provide electricity for its
booming economy and help control flooding on the Yangtze River.
Critics say over a million people were moved from the area, and
the reservoir behind the dam is already polluted. On Saturday,
builders poured the last amount of concrete to complete the
construction of the 185m (607ft) high, 2,309m (1.4 mile) long
wall. A senior Chinese official said the event marked a
"landmark progress" in the dam's construction, the state-run
Xinhua news agency reported. "However, tasks such as building of
power houses of the dam, the ship lock and shiplift are still
formidable," said Pu Haiqing, deputy director of the dam's
construction committee. When its 26 turbines