The Guangzhao Dam is a concrete gravity

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...

on the

Beipan River Beipan River () is a river in Guizhou and Yunnan provinces, China, and part of the great Pearl River basin. Other names The upper reaches in Yunnan and Guizhou were once known as the Zangke River. Course The Beipan River passes through the mo ...

near Guangzhao in Guanling County, Guizhou Province,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The main purpose of the project is

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

power generation with additional purposes of water regulation and irrigation. It creates the uppermost or head reservoir on the Beipan and was constructed between 2003 and 2008.

Construction

Construction on the dam began in May 2003 and the river was diverted in October 2004. Reservoir filling began in 2007 and by 2008, the dam and power plant were complete. On June 28, 2010, a landslide in the area of the dam that killed 99 locals was believed to be caused by seismic effects from the reservoir.

Specifications

The dam is tall and wide and composed of

roller-compacted concrete Roller-compacted concrete (RCC) or rolled concrete (rollcrete) is a special blend of concrete that has essentially the same ingredients as conventional concrete but in different ratios, and increasingly with partial substitution of fly ash for Po ...

. It also contains three spillway chutes on its surface. Each spillway is controlled by a wide and tall floodgate and they have a combined maximum discharge of . The dam also contains a bottom outlet works for draining the reservoir which a maximum discharge capacity of .

References

{{reflist Hydroelectric power stations in Guizhou Dams in China Gravity dams Dams completed in 2008 Roller-compacted concrete dams

Construction

Specifications

See also

References