In the Dongying section, the lowest reach of the river, ice density reached 90 percent on Monday.

The latest release from the Yellow River Anti-Flood Office said by 3 pm yesterday, ice density from Heze to Jinan was as high as 50 per cent and the Jinan to Binzhou segment, 70 percent.

Most ice blocks were between 6 to 20 square meters, with the biggest one spotted at 60 square meters. Most were between 2 to 8 centimeters thick, with the thickest at 10 centimeters. Some areas appeared to have ice on the bank.

The head waters of the Yellow River, China's second largest river, are in Qinghai Province. The river flows through Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Shanxi and Henan, passing finally through Shandong's Dongying before entering the Bohai Sea. In Shandong, the river passes seven cities.

Ice currents first appeared on January 4.

On Sunday the average daily temperature of Binzhou fell to -13 C, the lowest for the province since 1990. The low on Monday hit -17 C in some areas.

But the low temperature and high ice density did not make the river icebound. In the past years, such low temperature had closed the river for days.

The fact that the river isn't icebound this time is because of a smooth watercourse and increased water flux, said Liu Hongcai, an official of the Yellow River Anti-Flood Office. Last year Shandong experienced its worst drought since 1916, but the river continued to flow, the first time in 10 years it hasn't dried out.

The average water flux of the province's water stations on Monday was between 430 to 470 cubic meters per second. That dropped to between 365 and 420 cubic meters per second by 8 am yesterday.

By sending water to Tianjin from the Xiaolangdi Reservoir, the office also controlled the amount of discharged water, which washed the way for ice to flow.

The office also removed 32 float bridges above the river, reducing the hindrance to ice flowing.

Yesterday, temperatures along the river started to rise.

Liu said ice density in some areas is so high, if the flow there stops the river will be icebound.

The official also said an ice flood is unlikely. Records show the Yellow River ice-flooded in 1951 and 1955.

(China Daily 01/17/2001)