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How China built the world’s largest arch dam in just four years

  • The speed of Baihetan’s construction has raised eyebrows, in a country where rapid infrastructure building is the norm
  • Project team says it would not have been possible without the extensive use of artificial intelligence

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An aerial view of the Baihetan dam, which is expected to generate more than 60 billion kilowatt hours of electricity per year after it opens in July. Photo: Getty Images
Stephen Chen

When China’s newest hydropower plant is completed in July, it will produce 16 times the energy of the Hoover Dam in the United States.

Standing nearly 300 metres (985 feet) tall, and made with more than 8 million cubic metres of concrete, the Baihetan dam towers over Jinshajiang – the “River of Golden Sand” – as the upper section of the Yangtze River is known. It will power homes, office buildings and factories as far away as Jiangsu, a coastal province more than 2,000km (1,240 miles) to the east.

But it is the speed of the project, in the southwestern province of Sichuan, that has raised the eyebrows of experts, even in China, where rapid infrastructure construction is the norm. Despite many civil engineering difficulties, including treacherous terrain and a remote location, Baihetan has taken just four years to build.

“In my opinion, this could be the most challenging hydropower project ever,” said Deng Jianhui, professor with Sichuan University’s College of Water Resources and Hydropower in Chengdu.

The Three Gorges Dam, with its lower height and more convenient location, took eight years from the start of cement pouring in 1998 to its completion. It remains the world’s largest, with Baihetan coming in second. But the latter has a more complex arch construction, to adapt to the deep gorge.

“Since [Three Gorges], lots of progress has been made in dam construction in China. Baihetan is the latest and probably the best example,” Deng said.

The 170 billion yuan (US$26.1 billion) dam will start generating electricity on July 1, when the Chinese Communist Party celebrates its centenary. It will be able to produce more than 62 terawatt hours of electricity a year and reduce carbon dioxide emission by 52 million tonnes, helping the country meet its carbon neutralisation target by the middle of this century.

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