Abstract: The invention concerns the wire section of a papermaking machine and a method of removing water from a fiber web in that section. A fiber suspension is discharged from a headbox on at least one and usually between two wires in the forming section. The fiber suspension is dewatered until it eventually reaches the point of immobility at which the fiber orientation is fixed. The rate of removal of water transverse to the direction of travel of the web is controlled at regions across the web. In particular, the rate of water removal is decreased at the edge regions of the wire and the web, as compared with the center region, to improve the transverse formation profile of the web.