The Guanyinyan Dam is an under construction gravity dam on the Jinsha River

Jinsha River

Jinsha River is the westernmost of the major headwater streams of the Yangtze River, southwestern China.Its headwaters rise in the Wulan and Kekexili ranges in western Qinghai province, to the south of the Kunlun Mountains, and on the northern slope of the Tanggula Mountains on the border of the...

 30 km (19 mi) southwest of Panzhihua

Panzhihua

Panzhihua is a prefecture-level city located in the far south of Sichuan province of Southwest China, on the confluence of the Jinsha and Yalong Rivers. It has an administrative area of , and a total population of 1,100,800 as of 2007. It is the only city in China having a name of a flower, and...

 on the border of Yunnan and Sichuan Provinces in China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. The purpose of the dam is hydroelectric power generation and flood control. Construction on the dam started in 2008 and the river was diverted by 2010. The first generator should be operational in 2015 and the entire power station in 2016. When complete, the dam will support a 3,000 MW power station consisting of five 600 MW Francis turbine

Francis turbine

The Francis turbine is a type of water turbine that was developed by James B. Francis in Lowell, Massachusetts. It is an inward-flow reaction turbine that combines radial and axial flow concepts....

 generators.

Design

The Guanyinyan Dam will be a 159 m (522 ft) tall and 1158 m (3,799 ft) long gravity dam. Of the dam's length, 838 m (2,749 ft) will be roller-compacted concrete

Roller-compacted concrete

Roller-compacted concrete or rolled concrete is a special blend of concrete that has essentially the same ingredients as conventional concrete but in different ratios, and increasingly with partial substitution of fly ash for Portland cement. RCC is a mix of cement/fly ash, water, sand, aggregate...

 and 320 m (1,050 ft) will be rock-fill embankment with this portion having a maximum height of 71 m (233 ft). The crest elevation of the dam will be 1141 m (3,743 ft) above sea level and contain the power plant at the toe of its body. A spillway

Spillway

A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of flows from a dam or levee into a downstream area, typically being the river that was dammed. In the UK they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways release floods so that the water does not overtop and damage or even destroy...

and two discharge openings are also included in the design.