Longtan Dam

Longtan Dam is a large roller-compacted concrete (RCC) gravity dam on the Hongshui River in Tian'e County of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, a tributary of the Xi River and the Pearl River. The dam is 216.2m high and long; it is the tallest of its type in the world. The dam is intended for hydroelectric power production, flood control and navigation. The dam contains seven surface spillways, two bottom outlets and an underground power station. The Longtan ship lift, part of the dam complex, will be the tallest ship lift system in the world.ConstructionThe dam was planned in the 1950s, but preliminary construction did not begin until 1990. Formal construction began on the project July 1, 2001, and the river was diverted by November 2003. A total of 20000000m3 of material were excavated from the dam site. Impounding of the 27270000000m3 reservoir began in 2006, and the dam's first of three operational hydroelectric generating units was testing May 2007. In 2009, the last generator became operational and the installed capacity increased to, its annual generation is estimated at.