China’s record-breaking new dam, built with the help of AI, starts storing water

A record-breaking mega dam project in China’s far western Xinjiang region – built with the help of artificial intelligence and digital twin technologies – has begun storing water.

The Dashixia Water Control Project, located in the middle and lower reaches of the Kumarak River in Xinjiang’s Aksu prefecture, started to store water on Saturday.

Designed by the state-owned China Energy Engineering Corporation, it is the world’s tallest concrete-faced rockfill dam at a height of 247 metres (810 feet) – about the same as an 80-storey building, according to state media.

This type of dam consists of a large body of compacted rock or gravel material made watertight with a concrete slab on its upstream face. It has become the preferred dam design in the past few decades because it is considered safer, lower cost and suitable for taller structures.

The Dashixia project is also the world’s first dam of its kind to be completed using full-scale intelligent technology and construction, including the operation of unmanned equipment.

“The project utilised digital twin, AI and blockchain technologies to enable intelligent, 3D-printing-like construction to overcome seismic and geological challenges,” state broadcaster CGTN said in a report on Sunday.

South China Morning Post