Yalong
Yalong is a mapped river in the YearMaps hydrographic index. Jinping-I Dam stands on this watercourse and is written up below. River courses organise settlement, agriculture and frontier-making more durably than any political boundary, and this reach is indexed against the dams, lakes and cities within its catchment.
- Feature Class
- River
- Dams Recorded
- 1
- Coordinates
- 30.66°, 100.20°
About Yalong
The Yalong River (Chinese: 雅砻江, p Yǎlóngjiāng, w Ya-lung Chiang, IPA [jàlʊ̌ŋ tɕjàŋ]), or Nyag Chu (Tibetan: ཉག་ཆུ་, z Nyag Qu), is a major tributary river of the Yangtze River in Southwest China. With a length of 1,597 km (992 mi), the Yalong River flows from north to south through the Hengduan Mountains in western Sichuan Province.
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Yalong River (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Yalong in Depth
Course
The Yalong has its source in the Bayan Har Mountains on the Tibet–Qinghai Plateau in Chindu County, Yushu, Qinghai, where it is known as the Za Qu (Chinese: 扎曲). Flowing southeasterly, the Yalong gradually turns south at Garzê and travels between the Shaluli Mountains to the west and the Daxue Mountains to the east. The Yalong River channel runs through a deep gorge for much of its length south of Garzê. The southern Sichuan-Tibet Highway crosses the Yalong at Yajiang in the middle of the river's course. In Liangshan Prefecture, the river wraps 150 km (93 mi) around the Jinping Mountains creating the Jinping Bend. Here, water from the Yalong River has been diverted under the mountains as part of the Jinping-II Dam hydroelectric project.
History
The upper reaches of the Yalong have traditionally been inhabited by the Tibetan nomads of the historic region of Kham. The lower course of the Yalong is deeply incised and is not conducive to human habitation. The lower course of the Yalong was historically the western limit of Chinese influence in the region.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Yalong River (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Yalong: Key Facts
| Length | 1,323 km |
|---|---|
| Average discharge | 2,000 m³/s |
| Drainage basin | 150,000 km² |
| Source | Bayan Har Mountains |
| Mouth | Jinsha River |
| Drainage system | Yangtze River basin |
| Tributaries | Litang River, Anning He, Xianshui River, Ganyu River, Reyi River, Decha River, Liqiu River, Sancha River |
Facts from Wikidata Q876857 (CC0).
Jinping-I Dam
Jinping-I Dam
Double-curvature Arch dam · Sichuan, China
Jinping-I Dam is a double-curvature arch dam on the Yalong in Sichuan, China, standing 305 m (1,001 ft) high and completed in 2013. It carries an installed hydroelectric capacity of 3,600 MW. The structure impounds Jinping-I Reservoir.
The Jinping-I Dam (simplified Chinese: 锦屏一级水电站; traditional Chinese: 錦屏一級水電站) also known as the Jinping-I Hydropower Station or Jinping 1st Cascade, is a tall arch dam on the Jinping Bend of the Yalong River (Yalong Jiang) in Liangshan, Sichuan, China. Construction on the project began in 2005 and was completed in 2014. Its power station has a 3,600 MW capacity to produce between 16 and 18 TW·h (billion kW·h) annually. Supplying the power station is a reservoir created by the 305-meter-tall arch dam, the tallest in the world. The project's objective is to supply energy for expanding industrialization and urbanization, improve flood protection, and prevent erosion.
Adapted from Wikipedia: Jinping-I Dam (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Dam type
- Double-curvature Arch
- Structural height
- 305 m (1,001 ft)
- Installed capacity
- 3,600 MW
- Impounded river
- Yalong
- Reservoir
- Jinping-I Reservoir
- Location
- Sichuan, China
- Year completed
- 2013
- Height rank
- #1 of 115 indexed
- Output rank
- #18 of 102 indexed
- Coordinates
- 28.1836°, 101.6294°
Notable: Tallest dam in the world (305 meters high), taller than the Eiffel Tower.
Among the 115 dams indexed in YearMaps, Jinping-I Dam ranks #1 by structural height. By installed generating capacity it ranks #18, behind Three Gorges Dam (22,500 MW).
Nearest cities: Xichang (74 km), Panzhihua (182 km), Zhaotang (227 km).
More about Jinping-I Dam
History
Harnessing hydropower on the Jinping bend of the Yalong River has been in planning for decades. The length of bend around the Jinping Mountains is 150 km but the downstream (northbound) part of the river on the opposite side is only separated by 16 km. Between that distance, there is an elevation drop of 310 m, creating an excellent situation for hydroelectricity production. Two projects were planned for the bend, the Jinping I and Jinping II with a combined capacity of 8,400 MW. Planning for the projects began in the 1960s under the former Sichuan and Shanghai design institutes along with the Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power. They produced the "Reinvestigation Report on The Yalong River bend (Jinping)".
Design
The 305-meter-tall and 568-meter-long arch dam supplies the power station with water from a 7.7 billion m3 reservoir, of which 4.9 billion m3 is active or usable storage. The dam itself has a structural volume of 7.4 million m3. To control flooding, the dam is equipped with a controlled spillway on its crest with four gates and the capability to discharge up to 2,993 m3/s (105,700 cu ft/s). Five bottom outlets on the dam's orifice capable of discharging 5,465 m3/s (193,000 cu ft/s) and a tunnel with a discharge capacity of 3,651 m3/s (128,900 cu ft/s) with augment flood control as well. The power station will contain six 600 MW Francis turbines. Water discharged from the power station is then diverted downstream by the Jinping 2 Dam to the Jinping 2 Hydropower Station.
Geography
The Jinping-I Dam is on the border of the Yanyuan and Muli counties in the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture of the Sichuan province. The Yalong River, which the dam controls, is the largest tributary of the Jinsha. For the project, approximately 7,500 inhabitants were expected to be relocated.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Jinping-I Dam (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Jinping-I Dam: Key Facts
| Crest length | 569 m |
|---|
Facts from Wikidata Q488033 (CC0).
Major River Dossiers
Hand-written studies of the great river systems of history.
Connected Reaches
Nearby watercourses in the same drainage network.
Water Bodies in the Catchment
Settlements Along the Reach
Hydraulic Infrastructure Nearby
Surrounding Terrain
Yalong: Quick Answers
- Where is Yalong?
- Yalong is located in China, at 30.6579° N, 100.1970° E.
- Are there dams on the Yalong?
- Yes. YearMaps records one dam on the Yalong: Jinping-I Dam.
- How tall is Jinping-I Dam?
- Jinping-I Dam is 305 metres (1,001 ft) high and was completed in 2013.