At 10:38 am of December 12, 2000, the last of the six generating units was connected with the power grid, thus signaling the completion of Wanjiazhai Hydraulic Complex , a national key project during the Nine Five－year Plan period,and jointly built by the Ministry of Water Conservancy, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Shanxi Province. The main purposes of Wanjiazhai Hydraulic Complex are to supply water while generating power plus peak modulation, and concurrently to exercise flood and ice controls. The project, when fully operational, is capable of alleviating shortages of industrial, agricultural, and municipal water supplies to Inner Mongolia and Shanxi; of mitigating the problem of inadequate power supply by North China Power Grid and optimizing the network operation; and of acting as a bulwark against flood and ice dangers to Tianqiao Power Station at the lower reaches. The Yellow River Diversion Project is composed of two parts: control hub and water transfer. Water channeling routes break down into four sections—General Artery Canal, Southern Artery Canal that flows down to Taiyuan, Northern Artery Canal that reaches up to Datong, and Nexus Section—with a total length of 451.9 kilometers, among which, 208 kilometers run deep through an underground tunnel, a distance longer than the Channel Tunnel. Both domestic and overseas tenders are wanted for these construction projects. At present, a couple of international contractors from Italy and Austria, among other countries, have won some of the bids and are building the project. At 10:38 am of December 12, 2000, the last of the six generating units was connected with the power grid, thus signaling the completion of Wanjiazhai Hydraulic Complex, a national key project during the Nine Five-year Plan period, and jointly built by the Ministry of Water Conservancy, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Shanxi Province. The main purposes of Wanjiazhai Hydraulic Complex are to supply water while generating power plus peak modulation, and concurrently to exercise flood and ice controls. The project, when fully operational, is capable of alleviating shortages of industrial, agricultural, and municipal water supplies to Inner Mongolia and Shanxi; of mitigating the problem of inadequate power supply by North China Power Grid and optimizing the network operation; and of acting as a bulwark against flood and ice dangers to The Yellow River Diversion Project is composed of two parts: control hub and water transfer. Water channe ling routes break down into four sections-General Artery Canal, Southern Artery Canal that flows down to Taiyuan, Northern Artery Canal that reaches up to Datong, and Nexus Section-with a total length of 451.9 kilometers, among which 208 kilometers run deep through an underground tunnel, a distance longer than the Channel Tunnel. both domestic and overseas tenders are wanted for these construction projects. At present, a couple of international contractors from Italy and Austria, among other countries, have won some of the bids and are building the project.