Construction on the South-to-North Water Diversion Project has begun. Projected to be finished in 2050, the Project will connect the Yangtze, Yellow, Huaihe and Haihe Rivers and be able to transport 44.8 billion m³ of water. Officials expect that the water tunnels will be functional enough in 2008 to divert water to the Beijing Olympics.
From Xinhua:
A ground-breaking ceremony was held on Sunday as construction began on a pair of tunnels — part of the massive south-to-north water diversion project — that will traverse the Yellow River and bring Yangtze River water all the way to 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. [Full Text]
See also an overview of the Project from Water Technology and from the Ministry of Water Resources in China.
