THREE GORGES DAM SITE, Hubei Province, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The Three Gorges Project is expected to be completed by 2008 a year ahead of schedule, a senior manager with the corporation in charge of the project said Wednesday.

    Cao Guangjing, deputy general manager of the China Yangtze River Three Gorges Project Development Corporation (CYRTGPDC), told a news conference that the project, launched in 1993, was scheduled to be completed in 2009.

    He said all of the construction milestone throughout the project have been met ahead of schedule, making it possible for the entire project to be completed a year earlier than scheduled.

    The corporation's latest completion schedule calls for the construction of the actual dam structure to be finished on May 20, ten months ahead of schedule, Cao added.

    Moreover, the project is likely to be completed under budget, Cao acknowledged, It was originally estimated the entire project would cost 203.9 billion yuan (25.5 billion U.S. dollars) when it was launched in 1993, but is now likely to be completed at a cost of 180 billion yuan (22.5 billion U.S. dollars) , he said.

    Launched in 1993, the Three Gorges Project, including a 2,309-m-long, 185-m-high dam with 26 power generators, is being built in three phases on the mid reaches of the Yangtze, China's longest river.

    The gigantic project is expected to start generating 84.7 billion kwh of electricity annually when it is finally completed.

    Besides its huge power generating capacity, the Three Gorges is also expected to tame flooding on the Yangtze, fuel industrial growth in the area and improve shipping. Enditem