Myanmar to dredge major river, improve navigation

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- Myanmar is planning to dredge the Irrawaddy river, where the buildup of sediment is threatening its navigability and the movement of goods through the country.
The Weekly Eleven News reported Thursday that sediment in the river has narrowed sections of it to just 30 yards (meters), down from several miles (kilometers) wide.
Chinese technicians hoping to win the contract have begun to survey the 1,300-mile- (2,100 kilometer-) long river, The Myanmar Times reported.
China's Tianjin Dredging has already won a contract to open up part of the Yangon river, a smaller waterway that leads to the country's most important port. Yangon port handles about 90 percent of Myanmar's shipping cargo.
That project will enable a 39,000-ton vessel to dock at Yangon, up from 17,000 tons.