Acueductos y alcantarillados 1 Laura Marcela Daz Barragn

Hydraulic Principles of the 2,268-Year-Old Dujiangyan Project in China

Since the beginning of civilization, human has sought how to get better use of natural resources, make the most of each, for this, especially in agriculture are used largely hydraulic projects, therefore, the strategy chosen to build and execute a project of this type will have a great influence on society and longevity of it. In this case it is an irrigation system, which is widely used artificial system in low rainfall areas and during periods of drought. These systems also have other uses such as the prevention of land consolidation, eliminate weed growth in grain land and protect crops from different plant species. In 256 BC, Li Bing, governor of Shu District, in China, proyected an irrigation system primarily to prevent flooding from the Min River and additionally irrigates the Chengdu Plain. Dujiangyan has been operated for over 2260 years and continues to play an important role despite the passing of the years, this system has had other functions that provide advantages for the growth and prosperity of the neighboring populations to this channel, such as urban irrigation , industrial, agricultural and water supply, flood control and tourism. Since 2000, this project has been considered by UNESCO as world cultural heritage pertinent to water conservation. Although there have been many other famous hydraulic projects in antiquity who played a vital role in the cultural history of humankind, they failed over time for reasons of neglect, lack of sediment accumulation repair, misuse or natural events. In contrast, the Dujiangyan project still works without interruption since its creation and today continues its development, that because its maintenance and operation cost is low, being less than the economic, social and ecological generated by the project. It is very important the study of projects with this kinds of features, because with the passage of time and even with some repairs, is a project since its construction was projected to an adequate long term operation, compliance that is sought in all current and future projects.

Acueductos y alcantarillados 2 Laura Marcela Daz Barragn

Additionally, this project is an example for creating modern hydraulic projects, because it takes into account the conservation and environmental protection, in the form of water resource utilization, such as decreasing the land desertification. This can occur for economic, scientific, cultural, ethical, social and legal reasons. The project uses the topography artfully in weirs design structures, due to the branching that was done to the river Min, which is the branch of the river that carries the largest volume of water in the upper catchment of Yangtze River. It originates in the southern part of the Min Mountains and joins to the Yangtze River in Yibin. Min River has a length of 735 km and a portion of the water is conducted to a diversion channel that directs to the Chengdu Plain. To reach their destination the Min River is divided into three parts by an embankment, the river Inner, Outer River and canal Shahei. Outer River comprises the main flow of the river Min, while the Inner River is used to divert water to the project. Currently this project consists of two main parts: Headwork and irrigation sperficie; Headwork consists of three major projects: Fish Mouth, Feishayan and Baopingkou and auxiliary projects as Renzi Dike, Check Gate and Outer River Water-Drawing Industry Gate. It uses a gravity irrigation system in a fan shape with a series of canals and gates, being the largest irrigation district in China to have a total surface area of 0.68 million hectares, and that exploit the characteristics of topographic slope of the terrain that is higher in the northwest and low in the southeast. This type of irrigation was also used because of their low investment and maintenance cost and because it is not affected by climatic or water quality. The Outer River mainstream is the discharge channel Min River, which interrupts the annual floods caused by the river flow increased after the springs, while the land on the right bank of the river Min are irrigated by the Canal Shahei. The curved section of the river and Fish Mouth started after Guankou, facilitating the automatic diversion of flow and sediments, additionally builds jinggang Dike for the same purpose.

Acueductos y alcantarillados 3 Laura Marcela Daz Barragn

Feishayan is a low spillway dam located on the bottom of dam Jingang, above, when the water level of the river Inner was high and the demand for water for irrigation was large, were added at the crest of the dam bamboo cages filled with gravel, temporarily increasing the water level and to obtain a greater volume. These cages are automatically destroyed by the impending floods. Therefore, Feishayan is an integral part of the right bank of River Inner. Then built the WaterDrawing Industry Gate and bamboo cages were replaced, resulting in more flexible options to retain water. The third major project is Baopingkou, which is a channel of water intake for irrigation areas and protects the Chengdu Plain of the threat of flooding, which Feishayan protects sediment deposition during times of flooding as a result transport in the Inner river convex, taking them to the river Outer. This project has been operated and maintained by more than 2260 in each dynasty, still in perfect working conditions for crop water supply and Chengdu populations. This is due to its constant maintenance, reconstruction and modernization according to the trends and standards used in water projects, and taking into account the demand of water needed to supply the population and help distribute water finds irrigation canals due control upstream is made according to the season. In addition to improving the quality of life generated Dujiangya, economic growth occurs, social and cultural, as it provides the means to transport or shipment of goods from this region, the exchange between cultures to increase tourism and awareness of the proper management of this vital resource. In contrast to other old projects those were abandoned by the accumulation of sediments resulting in the loss of function of irrigation and drainage, Dujiangyan uses natural means for conducting water and sediment from Min River in combination with various flow control methods, such as dikes, cofferdams or dams, which provide benefits based on the time of year, taking advantage of the time that the higher the magnitude of the flow, will be more the proportion of water diversion

Acueductos y alcantarillados 4 Laura Marcela Daz Barragn

and sediment discharge Feishayan will be more efficient since the flow velocity in the mountainous area is high and to reach the plain, the river widens slowing its speed and the sediment deposited there easily . In conclusion, this river is harnessed to one hundred percent and has become a comprehensive case study because it is a hydraulic structure showing the harmony between human civilization and nature. Using the Inner River inclination, that in times of drought mainstream deviates to the left bank to reach Fish Mouth, resulting in the diversion of more than 50% of water from the river Inner and during the season central bank floods of Hanjiaba allows the overflow, so that the main stream is conducted directly to Fish Mouth, and over 50% of the total flow diverted to the Outer river, which provides a major use of different channels to divert flow in winter event to avoid flooding. It is very important to highlight the main causes of this project permanence, which are due to the role it has played in the Chengdu Plain, which made it possible their governments pay particular attention in its management and maintenance. The constant remodeling has prevented the abandonment because of the accumulation of sediment or aging of materials providing more technology elements guaranteeing the regular service project for many years.