Plans have been made to adjust the route of the massive canal network for south-north water diversion project to avoid clashing with the ruins of an ancient salt-making site in eastern China's Shandong Province.

The 3,000-year-old ruins were discovered around a reservoir at the province's Shouguang City when engineers started to expand the water storage for the canal network that is designed to supply its dry north with water from the wetter south.

The salt-making sites, mostly believed to be used in West Zhou Dynasty (1,100 BC - 771 BC) and Shang Dynasty (1,600 BC - 1,100 BC), were clustered within an area of eight square kilometers. Archeologists said it's the first time to unearth salt-making sites of such big scale and density in China.

"We have decided to change the original route, in an effort to make the best for the preservation of the salt-making site," said Wang Jinjian, senior engineer of the administration office for south-north water diversion project in Shandong.

China launched the 60-billion-dollar project at the end of 2002, aiming to move water hundreds of miles from the Yangtze to Beijing and other parts of the north.

Its canals will run 1,192 km in Shandong and start supplying water by the end of 2007. The reservoir in Shouguang is expected to be enlarged by roughly twice its size to restore the transferred water.

According to the government sources, the canals for the project in Shandong will bypass 88 cultural relics sites, which have been designated for special protection. Experts said some relics might first be discovered during the canal construction, however.

"It is possible the new route will clash with other cultural relics again," Wang Jinjian said. "In that case, we will change the route for a second time or try to relocate the relics by using the project's funds."

The latest figure of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage shows that a total of 788 cultural heritage sites will be affected by the south-north water diversion project.

Chinese cultural heritage departments and water resources departments are racing to rescue ancient relics and minimize damage to cultural heritage done by the ambitious project.

By now, the project had made way for preservation of handfuls of ancient relics sites including the 3,000-year-old Yin Ruins in the central Henan, where oracle bones and shells were spotted, and remains of the Zhao State from the Warring States period some 2,000 years ago.