The Guangzhao Dam is a concrete gravity 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 Beipan River

Beipan River

Beipan River is a river in the Guizhou province, China, and part of the great Pearl River basin.-Other names:The upper reaches in Yunnan and Guizhou were once known as the Zangke River.-Course:...

 near Guangzhao in Guanling County, Guizhou 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 main purpose of the project is hydroelectric power generation with additional purposes of water regulation and irrigation. It creates the uppermost or head reservoir on the Beipan and was constructed between 2003 and 2008.

Construction

Construction on the dam began in May 2003 and the river was diverted in October 2004. Reservoir filling began in 2007 and by 2008, the dam and power plant were complete. On June 28, 2010, a landslide in the area of the dam that killed 99 locals was believed to be caused by seismic effects from the reservoir.

Specifications

The dam is 200.5 metres (658 ft) tall and 410 metres (1,345 ft) wide and composed of 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...

. It also contains three spillway chutes on its surface. Each spillway is controlled by a 16 metres (52 ft) wide and 20 metres (66 ft) tall floodgate and they have a combined maximum discharge of 9857 m3/s. The dam also contains a bottom outlet works

Outlet works

A set of outlet works is a device used to release and regulate water flow from a dam. Such devices usually consist of one or more pipes or tunnels through the embankment of the dam, directing water usually under high pressure to the river downstream...

for draining the reservoir which a maximum discharge capacity of 799 m3/s.