Longtan Dam
| Longtan Dam | |
|---|---|
  Location of Longtan Dam in China | |
| Official name | 龙滩大坝 |
| Country | China |
| Location | Tian'e County, Guangxi |
| Coordinates | 25°01′38″N 107°02′51″E / 25.02722°N 107.04750°ECoordinates: 25°01′38″N 107°02′51″E / 25.02722°N 107.04750°E |
| Status | In use |
| Construction began | 2001 |
| Opening date | 2009 |
| Construction cost | US$4.2 billion |
| Owner(s) | Longtan Hydropower Development Co., Ltd. |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Gravity |
| Impounds | Hongshui River |
| Height | 216.2 m (709 ft) |
| Length | 849 m (2,785 ft) |
| Dam volume | 7,670,000 m3 (10,031,981 cu yd) |
| Spillway type | Service, controlled |
| Spillway capacity | 27,134 m3/s (958,228 cu ft/s) (max flood) |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Longtan Reservoir |
| Total capacity | 27,270,000,000 m3 (22,108,149 acre·ft) |
| Active capacity | 20,530,000,000 m3 (16,643,942 acre·ft) |
| Catchment area | 98,500 km2 (38,031 sq mi) |
| Normal elevation | 400 m (1,312 ft) |
| Power station | |
| Commission date | 2007-2009 |
| Hydraulic head | 179 m (587 ft) (max.) |
| Turbines | 9 × 714 MW Francis-type |
| Installed capacity | 6,426 MW |
| Annual generation | 18,700 GWh (estimate) |
Longtan Dam (simplified Chinese: 龙滩大坝; traditional Chinese: 龍灘大壩; pinyin: Lóngtān Dàbà) is a large roller-compacted concrete (RCC) gravity dam on the Hongshui River in Tian'e County of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, a tributary of the Xi River and the Pearl River.[1][2][3][4][5][6] The dam is 216.2 metres (709.3 ft) high and 849 m (2,785 ft) long; it is the tallest of its type in the world.[7] The dam is intended for hydroelectric power production, flood control and navigation. The dam contains seven surface spillways, two bottom outlets and an underground power station. The Longtan ship lift, part of the dam complex, will be the tallest ship lift system in the world.[8]
Construction
The dam was planned in the 1950s, but preliminary construction (roads, bridges, river diversion) did not begin until 1990. Formal construction began on the project July 1, 2001, and the river was diverted by November 2003.[9] A total of 20,000,000 m3 (706,293,334 cu ft) of material were excavated from the dam site.[10] Impounding of the 27,270,000,000 m3 (22,108,149 acre·ft) reservoir began in 2006, and the dam's first of three operational hydroelectric generating units was testing May 2007.[11] In 2009, the last generator became operational and the installed capacity increased to 6,426 MW, its annual generation is estimated at 18.7 TWh.[7]
Navigation
The dam will submerge over 300 shoals, which had rendered the upper Hongshui unnavigable.[12] The Longtan ship lift will be able to lift vessels of up to 500 tonnes.[8] Chinese officials assert the dam and ship lift will turn the Hongshui into a "golden waterway" for reaching landlocked Guizhou and Guangxi provinces.
See also
References
- ↑ "Hongshui River in south China to be dammed in November". China Daily. 2003-10-26. Archived from the original on 2003-10-31. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
The project's planned installed capacity will total 5.4 million kw and the project will be able to generate 15.67 billion kwh of electricity a year.
- ↑ Ben Shaw (2003-11-06). "Building Longtan" (PDF). Potain. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2012-02-10. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
Li Xuejiang, a manager with one of the technical departments for the contracting joint venture, explains the working process at the site: “This jobsite operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week – in common with most working job sites in China.”
- ↑ "Guangxi Builds Huge Hydraulic Power Station". China through a lens. 2003-11-06. Archived from the original on 2004-02-24. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
The Longtan Power Station, the largest of the 10 hydraulic power works to be built on Hongshui River in the upper reach of Pearl River, will generate 18.7 billion kwh annually when construction works complete in December 2009.
- ↑ "Guangxi's Longtan Dam: Satisfying Guangdong's Thirst for Power". U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou. August 2002. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2016-09-19.
The Longtan Dam will be a key element in the so-called 'Sending Western Energy to the East' effort, one of the four major infrastructure projects now underway in China's Tenth Five-Year Plan (2001-2005)
- ↑ "Big Dam Project Meets Small Town: Longtan Dam's Impact on Tian'e Township". U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou. August 2002. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2016-09-19.
The Chinese government is gambling that expenditure of public funds on huge projects such as the Longtan Dam will lead to sustainable economic development.
- ↑ "Progress at the Longton Dam and Hydropower Project". International Journal on Hydropower & Dams. 2004. pp. 84–85. Retrieved 2016-09-19.
Work is now beginning on the main dam at Longtan RCC dam in China, which currently sets world records in terms of RCC dam height, powerplant dimensions, and shiplift range.
- 1 2 Hydroelectric Power Plants in Guangxi & Guizhou, China
- 1 2 "Longtan HPP". Zhongnam Engineering Corporation. Archived from the original on 2016-03-15. Retrieved 2016-09-19.
A scheme of two-stage counterweight-type vertical ship lift with an open channel in the middle was adopted as the navigation structure for Longtan project.
- ↑ "Hongshui River in S.China to be dammed in November" (in English). Retrieved 2016-09-20.
- ↑ "Longtan" (PDF). Chinese National Committee on Large Dams. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
- ↑ "First generator of China's 3rd largest hydropower project passes trial operation". People's Daily. 2007-05-18. Archived from the original on 2011-06-06. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
"We are preparing for the operation of the other two generators, which is also slated for this year," said Dai Bo, general manager of the Longtan Hydropower Development Co. of China Datang Corporation (CDT).
- ↑ Lan Xinzhen (2008-10-30). "Harnessing the Hongshuihe". Beijing Review. Archived from the original on 2016-09-19.
http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/countries_regions/Profile_segments/CHN-WR_eng.stm