The Shuangjiangkou Dam ( zh, 双江口大坝/双江口水电站), also referred to as Shuang Jiang Kou ( zh, 双江口), is an embankment dam currently being constructed in a gorge on the

Dadu River The Dadu River (), known in Tibetan as the Gyelmo Ngul Chu, is a major river located primarily in Sichuan province, southwestern China. The Dadu flows from the eastern Tibetan Plateau into the Sichuan Basin where it joins with the Min River, a t ...

Sichuan Province Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

, China. When completed, the dam will be the tallest dam in the world. Preliminary construction began in 2008 and the entire project was expected to be complete in 2018. By April 2011, over of material had been excavated from the construction site. In March 2013, China's Ministry of Environmental Protection approved construction on the dam's superstructure and associated facilities. The government acknowledged that the dam would have negative impacts on the environment but that developers were working to mitigate them. The dam is being built by the Guodian Group at a cost of US$4.02 billion. The entire construction period is expected to last 10 years. All turbines are expected to be commissioned by 2023.

Design

The Shuangjiangkou Dam, when completed, will be a ( from the foundation) and rock-fill dam with a relatively impervious core. The dam's crest width will be , its elevation above sea level. It will have a structural volume of approximately . The dam will sit at the head of a

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

and have a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

capacity of of which is regulating or active (useful) storage. Normal reservoir elevation will be and minimum . Flood elevations range between . The dam's power station will contain four 500 MW Francis turbine- generators for an installed capacity of 2000 MW. Firm capacity of the power station is expected to be 503 MW along with the station operating for 4064 hours each year. The power station's design flow is and the mean hydraulic head .

References

{{supertall Hydroelectric power stations in Sichuan Dams in China Dams under construction in China Rock-filled dams Dams on the Dadu River Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture

Design

See also

References