Shanghai completed its largest dredging project along Suzhou Creek earlier this week, a year-long process that saw the removal of 1.3 million cubic meters of sludge - and even 121 old bombs from a 16.35 kilometer- stretch of water, local authorities said Wednesday.

The completion of the task this month also signals the end of the final phase of the city's Suzhou Creek Rehabilitation Project, an initiative initially launched in 1998 with the purpose of cleaning the waters to improve stream-flow and mitigate impact of future floods.

"The ridding of dirt and waste, including old tires even abandoned bombs from wartime, as well as sediments, has given the waters an additional one meter in depth to help the creek's movement," Jiang Guoda, chief of Suzhou Creek Rehabilitation Office, told the Global Times Wednesday.

The materials have been properly disposed of, with the old bombs carefully dealt with, he added.

Following similar cleaning work along the creek in 1963 and 1979, the most recent effort carried out along the stretch between Putuo and Huangpu districts should also improve air pollution for local residents in the area, the city's oceanic bureau, in charge of overseeing the project, said Wednesday.

The "remarkable" improvement in water quality by the creek also leaves room for further revitalization of the waters, community engagement and redevelopment, added authorities. Such initiatives have also been included in the city's 12th Five-Year Plan.