The Shuibuya Dam is a concrete

Concrete

Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...

-face rock-fill embankment dam

Embankment dam

An embankment dam is a massive artificial water barrier. It is typically created by the emplacement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil, sand, clay and/or rock. It has a semi-permanent waterproof natural covering for its surface, and a dense, waterproof...

 on the Qingjiang River in Badong County, Enshi

Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture

-Demographics:The total area is 24,000 square kilometers, and the population is 3,800,000. 52.6% of the population belong to the Tujia and Miao nations, who -while officially minority nations- are thus a majority here...

, Hubei

Hubei

' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...

 Province, 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 mainly hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...

 but it also promotes flood control

Flood control

In communications, flood control is a feature of many communication protocols designed to prevent overwhelming of a destination receiver. Such controls can be implemented either in software or in hardware, and will often request that the message be resent after the receiver has finished...

, navigation

Navigation

Navigation is the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. It is also the term of art used for the specialized knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks...

, tourism

Tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

 and fishery

Fishery

Generally, a fishery is an entity engaged in raising or harvesting fish which is determined by some authority to be a fishery. According to the FAO, a fishery is typically defined in terms of the "people involved, species or type of fish, area of water or seabed, method of fishing, class of boats,...

. At 233 m (764.4 ft) tall and containing 15640000 m³ (20,456,347.7 cu yd) of material, it is the tallest concrete face rock-fill dam in the world.

History

Construction on the Shuibuya Dam was authorized in January 2002 and began soon thereafter. By October 2002, the Qingjiang River river had been diverted. On August 12, 2006, the dam reached its maximum height of 233 m (764.4 ft) and by July 2007, its first hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...

 generator

Electrical generator

In electricity generation, an electric generator is a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. A generator forces electric charge to flow through an external electrical circuit. It is analogous to a water pump, which causes water to flow...

 was operational. In March 2008, the third generator was operational and the dam along with its power station

Power station

A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....

 were completed later in 2008. A total of 13,967 people were relocated during construction.

The dam was designed by CWRC and built by Hubei Qingjiang Shuibuya Project Construction Company in addition to the Gezhouba Group Company, Jiangnan Water Resource & Hydropower Engineering Co. and China Water Resource & Hydropower Bureau. Construction was supervised by Huadong Hydropower Engineering Consultancy Co., Zhongnan Co. and China Water Resource & Hydropower Engineering Consultancy.

Specifications

The Shuibuya Dam is a 233 m (764.4 ft) tall and 660 m (2,165.4 ft) long concrete-face rock-fill embankment dam

Dam

A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...

 on the Qingjiang River. The dam's maximum height above sea level is 409 m (1,341.9 ft). It is made of 15640000 m³ (20,456,347.7 cu yd) of material. The dam includes a bank-type 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...

 controlled by five 14 by 21.8 m (45.9 by 71.5 ft) gates that can discharge 16300 m3/s. The dam's power station

Power station

A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....

 contains four turbines units that are housed in an underground power plant.