The Yellow River, China's second longest river, will not see serious ice run despite the increasing ice consistency, the local flood control office reported Thursday.

 

The frozen section on the lower reaches of the river has extended to 24 km as of Thursday morning, due to the continuous subfreezing temperatures, said Yao Yude, director of the Yellow River Flood Control Office of Shandong Province.

 

The ice consistency averages 40 percent in the stretch downstream from the provincial capital, Jinan by Thursday.

 

Twenty floating bridges have been removed to improve ice flow. It is reported the ice blocks are likely to pile up, rising the water level, in late winter or early spring when the river begins to thaw.

 

In spite of the upstream freezing, the river runs at a steady speed of 300 cubic meters per second or less in the lower reaches, which unlikely to threaten serious ice run, said Yao.

 

The Yellow River, popularly known as China's Mother river, starts in Qinghai Province in the northwest and flows through Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Shanxi and Henan, before passing through Shandong and emptying into the Bohai Sea.

 

(Xinhua News Agency February 10, 2006)