Leading-edge Technologies in Hydropower Development in China

After the implementation of the Reform and Opening-up Policy for a period of 40 years, the exploitation of China’s hydropower resources developed significantly. Through vast amounts of scientific and technological research and construction practices, China has accumulated abundant engineering experience with respect to the construction technologies required for 300-meter-high concrete arch dams, 200-meter-high roller-compacted concrete gravity dams, 200-meter-high concrete face rockfill dams, and 250-meter-high earth core rockfill dams, large-flow discharge and energy dissipation, huge underground cavern group constructions, complicated foundation treatments for high earth and rockfill dams and high and steep slope reinforcements. These series of technologies have now reached an international leading level. In the near future, these technical improvements will likely have broader application prospects and make greater contributions toward hydropower development both in China and across the world.