(NAY PYI TAW, 16 Dec)
* Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council Commander- in-Chief of Defence Services Senior General Than Shwe yesterday afternoon went on an inspection tour of Yeywa Hydropower Project on Myitnge river, 31 miles southeast of Mandalay, Mandalay Division, being implemented by No 2 Construction Group of the Hydropower Department under the Ministry of Electric Power No 1.
* Senior General Than Shwe, accompanied by Member of the SPDC General Thura Shwe Mann and members of the entourage helicoptered from Minsu village of Kyaukse township at 1:15 pm and landed at Yeywa Hydropower Project at 1:45 pm. At the briefing hall, Minister for Electric Power No. 1 Col Zaw Min presented reports to Senior General Than Shwe and entourage that Yeywa Hydropower Project on Myitnge River, being a RCC concrete dam with the length of 2,264 feet and the height of 433 feet was being built; that it was also the major hydropower project of the State; the four 197.5 megawatt turbines have been installed; that No 1 turbine would start generating power in near future; that construction tasks were being expedited for the remaining three turbines to generate power; that the construction of main dam , water intake structure, spillway and diversion tunnel Nos (1) and (2) have completed; that water is being stored at the dam; that tasks for installation of machines to be used in generating power and construction of drainage and switch yard are in their final stages; and that emphasis is being placed on this project to meet set standards as it is one of the world’s largest dams of RCC type.
* Thanks to encouragement of the government and concerted efforts of the project workers, the project will complete two years earlier than the scheduled. As it is a project being implemented through the modern technology, the modern machinery are being installed at the dam to detect the strength, movement of water, water pressure and temperature of the main embankment.
* After hearing the reports, the Senior General gave guidance that as the project is in its final stage of installing turbines, it is necessary to place emphasis on timely completion of the construction tasks the meeting set standards, and he stressed the need to maintain the dams of the completed hydropower plants for their durability.
* The Senior General presented fruit baskets to technicians from abroad and at home.
* The Senior General and party viewed scale model of Yeywa Hydropower Plant. At the main concrete embankment, the Head of State and party looked into storage of water at the dam, removal of the rock layer from the drain of the plant, construction of the power plant and subpower stations, intake structure, installation of sluice gate and all other tasks of the project. At the power plant, the Senior General and party inspected final installation of the parts at No. 1 generator and installation of parts at No. 2 geneator.
* After visiting Yeywa Hydropower Plant, the Head of State and party left there by helicopter.
* Among four generators of Yeywa Hydropower Project, each is over 1500 tons in weight, and over 100,000 parts are systematically installed at each generator.
* The 790 megawatt Yeywa Hydropower Plant will produce 3550 million kwh annually.
* The generating capacity of Yeywa Hydropower Plant will be 70 per cent of about 5000 million kwh being generated by 15 power plants under the Ministry of Electric Power No. 1. Yeywa RCC Dam is one of the largest RCC dams in the world.
