Guangdong, Dam Machine! The "Best Dam Machine in Guangdong"

Guangdong Province has many rivers, mainly the Pearl River Basin and the Hanjiang River Basin that flows into the sea, as well as the rivers along the eastern and western coastal areas of Guangdong. The precipitation in Guangdong Province is unevenly distributed in terms of time and region. The annual precipitation is mainly concentrated in the flood season from April to October. Floods are prone to occur in summer and autumn, and droughts are common in winter and spring, forming a complex and unique water network.

Therefore, Guangdong's rivers and lakes can flow thousands of miles and nourish all living things, but they can also cause frequent disasters and make people's lives miserable. According to the big data inventory from 1949 to 2023, there were a total of 669 typhoons that landed in China in the past 75 years, of which 202 landed in Guangdong Province! The two opposite "water characteristics" have prompted Guangdong to develop into one of the provinces with the most developed large-scale water conservancy facilities in China, and the most prominent among them is the "dam".

To protect the lives and property of 127 million people in the province, Guangdong has built 7,596 reservoirs with a storage capacity of 45,397,000,000 cubic meters.

Heat map of the number of reservoirs in cities

Heat map of the number of reservoirs with the same name

Guangdong has also become the province with the fourth largest number of reservoirs and dams in the country.

They can not only block water and intercept surging torrents, but also store water to ensure water supply and irrigation, and they can also raise water levels to develop hydropower, improve waterways, etc. They play a vital role in ensuring people's livelihood and promoting local economic development!

Xinfengjiang Reservoir is one of the important sources of drinking water for many cities such as Hong Kong and Shenzhen.

Photographer @剑胆琴心Source: Planetary Research Institute

When you are traveling and checking in, you call it "Wanlv Lake", but when you are preventing floods, you call it "Xinfengjiang Reservoir"?

That's right, Wanlv Lake is actually an artificial lake formed after the Xinfengjiang Hydropower Station was built and stored. The Xinfengjiang Reservoir broke ground in July 1958 and was completed in 1969. The maximum dam height is 105 meters (the dam top elevation is 124 meters), and the total storage capacity is 13.896 billion cubic meters, ranking first in the province.

Xinfengjiang Reservoir is the largest lake in South China and the largest eco-tourism destination in South China. It is named because it is green all year round.

"Three hundred thousand people worked together to level the river, moving mountains and creating seas, and conquering the world on the battlefield."

The Hedi Reservoir is located in Hechun Town, Lianjiang City, Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province. It was built to intercept the Jiuzhou River. Construction began in June 1958 and was completed in August 1959. The people of Zhanjiang created a miracle in the history of water conservancy in less than two years. The Leizhou Peninsula also ended the situation of "nine years of drought" in ten years.

Scene during the construction of Hedi Reservoir

The Hedi Reservoir area spans two provinces (Guangdong and Guangxi), three cities (Zhanjiang, Yulin and Maoming), and four counties (Luchuan, Bobai, Huazhou and Lianjiang), with a total storage capacity of 1.144 billion cubic meters, a maximum water surface area of ​​122 square kilometers, and a catchment area of ​​1,495 square kilometers. The average annual water production in the past 60 years is about 1.48 billion cubic meters. There are 36 main and auxiliary dams, and the total length of the reservoir and dam is 7.9 kilometers. It is the largest "artificial sea" in Guangdong.

In February 1960, Deng Xiaoping happily wrote the only two inscriptions for my country's water conservancy: Leizhou Youth Canal

The water source project of the Leizhou Youth Canal Irrigation District is a national large (1) type water conservancy hub project integrating urban, rural and industrial water supply, agricultural water conservancy irrigation, flood control and disaster reduction, and ecological environment protection. The reservoir is designed to irrigate an area of ​​2 million mu and an effective irrigation area of ​​1.27 million mu.

Historical photos of Hedi Reservoir

After the completion of the Hedi Reservoir-Youth Canal, irrigation has been guaranteed for 1.55 million mu of farmland in Lianjiang, Suixi, Haikang, Zhanjiang suburbs, Wuchuan and other counties in the Leizhou Peninsula, and grain production has been bumper year after year.

Current status of Hedi Reservoir

In 1963, the Leizhou Peninsula experienced a severe drought similar to that of 1943. Since the autumn of the previous year, there had been no rain for eight consecutive months. Due to the significant role played by the Hedi Reservoir, 1.2 million mu of rice fields were planted on time, increasing grain production by nearly 100 million jin. In 1943, there was a severe drought, agricultural production was reduced, and famine occurred, with tens of thousands of people starving to death. In 1964, Dong Biwu visited the Hedi Reservoir and wrote a poem: "Hedi water is a reservoir, Leizhou is not worried about drought, the canal is divided into four main branches, and the river intercepts the flow of nine continents."

Nanshui Reservoir is located on the Nanshui River in Ruyuan, Shaoguan, Guangdong, 16 kilometers away from the county seat of Ruyuan Yao Autonomous County. It is the second largest artificial lake in Guangdong Province and the hydropower station with the largest installed capacity in Shaoguan City.

The construction of Nanshui Reservoir started in August 1958 and the sluice gates were closed to store water on February 13, 1969. The original design of the reservoir had a total storage capacity of 1.28 billion cubic meters and a beneficial storage capacity of 1.054 billion cubic meters (the effective storage capacity was 714 million cubic meters).

The dam was built using directional blasting. It is 81.8 meters high, 215 meters long and 8 meters wide at the top, and 430 meters wide at the bottom. The upstream and downstream rock slopes are both 1:3. The blasting volume is 1.14 million cubic meters, and the average accumulation height is 65 meters.

Rockfill dam science map source: Planet Research Institute

The reservoir has been operating normally since its completion and has withstood the test of three flood levels. The dam body has good quality, making it China's largest and most effective directional blasting dam construction project.

The Quanshui Reservoir is a key project that focuses on power generation and takes flood control into consideration. Construction began in May 1970, was completed at the end of 1975, and the sluice gates were closed to store water on February 29, 1976. It is located in Tangpenshui, an upper tributary of the Nanshui River in Ruyuan Yao Autonomous County, Guangdong Province.

The Quanshui Dam is a concrete hyperbolic thin arch dam with a maximum dam height of 80 meters, a top width of 3 meters, a top arc length of 209 meters and a bottom width of 9 meters. It is currently the thinnest dam in China.

Arch dam science map source: Planet Research Institute

The dam is designed for a 50-year return period with a corresponding water level in front of the dam of 447.9 meters (Pearl River base, the same below), and is verified for a 500-year return period with a corresponding water level in front of the dam of 449.7 meters. The flood season control water level and the normal high water level are both 447 meters.

The dam top elevation is 450 meters, the maximum dam height is 80 meters, the dam top arc length is 209 meters, the dam bottom thickness is 9 meters, and the dam top thickness is 3 meters. It is not only the thinnest arch dam in Guangdong Province, but also the thinnest arch dam in the country.

Jintan Reservoir is located in Shigutang Town in the northwest of Yingde City, in the upper reaches of Huangdong River, a tributary of Lianjiang River. The total storage capacity of the reservoir is 249 million cubic meters.

The project grade is II, and the main buildings are level 2. It is a water conservancy hub with comprehensive benefits such as power generation, flood control and irrigation in downstream areas.

The reservoir dam is a concrete hyperbolic arch dam with a maximum dam height of 123.3 meters. The dam adopts an elliptical arch dam shape, with an arc length of 224.24 meters on the centerline of the top arch, a bottom width of 19.45 meters on the arch crown beam, and a top width of 5 meters. The Jintan Reservoir is a multi-year regulation reservoir with a total storage capacity of 249 million cubic meters, a normal water storage level of 230 meters, a corresponding storage capacity of 234 million cubic meters, a dead water level of 213.5 meters, and a dead storage capacity of 140 million cubic meters. Since the operation of the reservoir, water supply, power generation and flood control have produced huge social and economic benefits.

The project provides a reliable water source for irrigation of more than 130,000 mu of cultivated land in the downstream irrigation area, can raise the flood control standard in the downstream area from once in two years to once in 20 years, can reduce flood and waterlogging disasters in more than 30,000 mu of cultivated land and villages and towns downstream, and create conditions for the development of more than 8,000 mu of river beach land.

Gaotang Reservoir is located in Baishui Forest Farm, Qiashui Town, Huaiji County, Zhaoqing City. The project was officially started on December 18, 1996 and closed on October 28, 2001. The dam is a concrete panel rockfill dam located in the Gaotangding Gorge of Baishui River, upstream of Fenggang River, a secondary tributary of Beijiang River.

The main dam of Gaotang Reservoir is a concrete-faced rockfill dam. The dam body is composed of concrete toe plate, reinforced concrete face plate, cushion layer, transition zone, main rockfill area, secondary rockfill area and downstream dry block stone slope protection from upstream to downstream.

Scientific map of concrete face rockfill dam Source: Planet Research Institute

The maximum dam height of Gaotang Reservoir is 110m, the dam width is 8m, the dam top length is 288.3m, and the total storage capacity is 96 million cubic meters.

The air in the reservoir area is fresh and the climate is pleasant. Trees sway along the road, the area is covered with green grass, and the birds are singing and the flowers are fragrant. The banks of the reservoir are covered with lush forests and green grass; the mountains are rolling and the peaks are protruding, like thousands of horses roaring; boating in them is like entering a paradise, shuttling through a beautiful landscape gallery.

Datianding, also known as Datianding, is located in the east of Dacheng Town, Xinyi City, Maoming City, Guangdong Province, with an altitude of 1,704 meters. It is located at the southern end of the subtropical area. It is the main peak of Dawuling in the Yunwu Mountains and the highest peak in western Guangdong. The peak is splendid.

There are dozens of peaks with an altitude of more than 1,000 meters nearby. There is a "Heavenly Lake" on the southwest side of the main peak, with an altitude of 1,554 meters and a capacity of 308,000 cubic meters. The water in the lake is clear and is known as the "Heavenly Lake". It is in contrast with the more than 3,000 acres of virgin forest around it. Watching the ever-changing vast sea of ​​clouds, listening to the inspiring pine waves, admiring the colorful mountain flowers, hearing the melodious bird songs, and facing the leisurely swimming fish and wild ducks, people who come here for summer vacation, tourism, and recuperation will be rejuvenated.

From the Xinfengjiang Reservoir with the "largest capacity" to the Hedi Reservoir with the "longest dam length", and to every reservoir, large and small, all of them have played a huge role in flood control and disaster reduction, agricultural irrigation, urban and rural water supply, power supply, ecological environment, etc. in the province, and have played a significant role in promoting the sustainable development of the province's national economy, protecting the lives and property of the country and the people, and have produced huge social, economic and ecological benefits.

Ke Xiaoyan and its fellow "Guangdong Dam Guardians"

Of course, Ke Xiaoyan is also quietly providing the most reliable technical support for the safety management of these reservoirs and dams. According to incomplete statistics, Ke Xiaoyan's brother "Yue Dam Guardian" has been used in the surface deformation monitoring of more than 600 reservoirs and dams in Guangdong Province, including Hedi Reservoir, Dahe Reservoir, Pingdi Reservoir, etc., with a total of more than 3,200 sets installed, "high frequency, high precision, all-weather" safety monitoring of reservoirs and dams!

Six-element all-in-one machine