The International Symposium on Modern Technologies and Long-term Behavior of Dams, jointly sponsored by China National Committee on Large Dams (CHINCOLD) and other organizations, was successfully held in Zhengzhou, China on September 28-29, 2011. At the Symposium, the International Milestone Concrete Dam Project Award was presented.
At the award ceremony, distinguished guests like President of CHINCOLD Wang Shucheng, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Water Resources (MWR) and Vice President of CHINCOLD Jiao Yong, Deputy Governor of Henan Province Liu Mancang, Director General of Yellow River Conservancy Commission of the Ministry of Water Resources Chen Xiaojiang, President of USSD Michael Rogers, President of Japanese Commission on Large Dams (JCOLD) Tadahiko Sakamoto, and President of Korean National Committee on Large Dams (KNCOLD) Kuen-Ho Kim presented the certificates and medals of the Award to the representatives from the winner organizations. The award ceremony was chaired by President of ICOLD Jia Jinsheng. The certificates and medals were jointly signed and issued by President of ICOLD Jia Jinsheng, President of CHINCOLD Wang Shucheng and President of USSD Michael Rogers.
President of CHINCOLD Wang Shucheng attended the award ceremony
President of USSD Michael Rogers attended the award ceremony
President of ICOLD Jia Jinsheng chaired the award ceremony
To sum up the tremendous achievements of concrete dam technology and identify those milestone projects in the field of dam engineering, with the support of the international experts, CHINOLD and U.S. Society on Dams (USSD) together initiated the International Milestone Project Award on Concrete Dams. This proposal gained the support of President of International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) Mr. Jia Jinsheng, Honorary Presidents of ICOLD Mr. Berga, Mr. Lombardi, Mr. Viotti, Mr. Varma and Mr. Pircher as well ass the positive responses from ICOLD National Committees of relevant countries.
The milestone projects are representative of the main achievements in dam projects until now, and they are also the basis for the new projects. The experiences of these international milestone projects can be used as a valuable reference for the future developments. The basic eligibility criteria for the international milestone concrete dam projects include: 1) Technical innovation in design, construction, operation or other aspects; 2) Good performance after completion; 3) Much attention has been paid during the construction and operation stages to environmental protection and social aspects; 4) Attention paid to raising awareness of technical achievements and advanced experience.
After the nomination by relevant ICOLD National Committees and international experts, and then the preliminary evaluation and re-evaluation by the Special Expert Group jointly organized by CHINCOLD and USSD, Hoover Dam in USA, Three Gorges Dam in China, Grand Dixence Dam in Switzerland, Itaipu Dam in Brazil and Paraguay, and Ertan Dam in China finally won the International Milestone Project Award.
Representative from Hoover Dam received the award
Hoover Dam (H=221.4m)
The construction of Hoover dam represented a major leap in the size and complexity of a gravity thick-arch concrete dam. When Hoover dam construction was initiated in 1931, its height was nearly double the height of Pacoima dam (H=113.4m) that was the tallest completed concrete arch dam in the world at that time. The successful completion of Hoover dam required rapid and numerous advances in dam design and construction technology. A number of pioneering engineering studies and processes were conducted and established during its design and construction. Also, Hoover dam provides many benefits to local and regional economies.
Representative from Three Gorges Dam received the award
Three Gorges Dam (H=181m)
The Three Gorges Project, as one of the largest hydropower-complex project in the world, ranks as the key project for improvement and development of Yangtze River. The dam controls a drainage area of 1,800,000 km2 with an average annual runoff of 451 billion m3. It provides huge benefits in flood control, power generation, navigation, water supply, etc. The total capacity of the reservoir reaches 39.3 billion m3, of which the effective flood control capacity reaches 22.15 billion m3. A number of new world records and a series of technology breakthroughs have been created for Three Gorges Project in the history of dam construction in the world.
Representative from Grand Dixence Dam received the award
Grand Dixence Dam (H=285m)
The Grand Dixence dam is the highest gravity dam in the world. The dam with an installed capacity of 2,000 MW provides the electricity supply of 17 cantons and represents a fifth of the storable energy produced in Switzerland. Switzerland can use these installations as competitive advantage with which to reinforce its relative position to other countries.
Representatives from Itaipu Dam received the award
Itaipu Dam (H=196m)
Itaipu is the world’s largest hydropower plant in terms of maximum output achieved. Although civil works had begun in 1975, the origin of Itaipu took place in the 1960’s, when Brazil and Paraguay first came to negotiations. The construction required the best techniques available at that time. Various studies were carried out, including instrumentation, geotechnical aspects, concrete, mathematical modeling, etc. For instance, the instrumentation consists of a set of about 2,400 equipments and 5,300 drains, whose monitoring is done by periodic readings. Simultaneously, there are about 270 instruments with automated readings, read every 30 minutes.
Representatives from Ertan Dam received the award
Ertan Dam (H=240m)
Ertan was the largest hydropower project completed in the 20th century in China. The 240m high arch dam was the highest arch dam in Asia and the third highest in the world when finished in 2000, also was a impressive records of achievement of arch dams in China. During the construction, the concrete quantity was reduced from 4.7 million m3 to 4 million m3 while the concrete layer thickness was increased from 1.5m to 3m. These improvements speeded up the dam construction significantly and had a remarkable promotion to the high dam theory and technical development in China. By 2011, the dam has run safely for 13 years, which proves the excellence of the dam design and construction.
