The closure of the sluice gate at the Three Gorges dam on the Yangtze River has been completed successfully Sunday morning, a senior official with the China Yangtze Three Gorges Project Development Corporation announced in Hubei.
Between zero hours and around 9:20 a.m. Sunday, the gates of 19of the 22 water diversion holes at the bottom of the dam had been successfully closed through computer-controlled operations, bringing the water level in the reservoir up to 106 meters, the official said.
The other three holes will remain open to guarantee water supply for the lower reaches of the Yangtze throughout the reservoir's two-week-long water-storage period. The water level in the reservoir is expected to reach 135 meters above sea level by June 15.
The sluice gate closing process was broadcast live nationwide by China Central Television.
(Xinhua News Agency June 1, 2003)
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