"There are less than 3,000 cubic meters of concrete left to be placed before the dam will finally complete nine months ahead of the schedule," said Cao Guangjing, deputy general manager of the corporation.

Construction of the 2,309-meter-long and 185-meter-high dam began in 1998.

Launched in 1994, the Three Gorges Project, including the dam and 26 generators is planned to be completed in 2009 and by then, it will be able to generate 84.7 billion kwh of electricity annually.

Meanwhile, the main part of the underwater museum for the Baiheliang, the world's oldest water survey device which will be submerged once the Three Gorges reservoir is filled, has been completed.

Baiheliang, the 1.6-kilometer-long massive reef important for observing water level changes, has been covered by an elliptical transparent shield so visitors in the future can still see it.

The whole construction project of the underwater museum is expected to be finished by June, 2007.

Located at the upper reaches of the Yangtze, Baiheliang only emerges from the water during the dry season. Therefore, it was a very important marker for ancestors to observe the changes of the water level.

On the massive reef, there are more than 20 fish sculptures, serving as water-level markers. About 30,000 characters of poems are also left on the stone.

The stone inscriptions on Baiheliang recorded about 1,200 consecutive years of the river's water levels during the dry seasons as well as its low water periods.