Dadu River Company Uses Aerial Photogrammetry Technology for High Dam Construction

On July 12, Dadu River Hydropower Development Co., Ltd. under China Energy used aerial photogrammetry technology to collect data of boulders and dangerous rock masses of the natural slope and the dam construction areas of Shuangjiangkou Hydropower Station. Some 16,000 high-resolution aerial images were taken, and an orthophoto map of a 10-square-kilometer area and a 3D oblique real-life model were built, providing effective support for geological disaster investigation and ecological environment monitoring in flood season.

Using a drone to collect high-resolution aerial images.

Shuangjiangkou Hydropower Station is a controlled reservoir project in the upper reaches of the Dadu River, whose rockfill dam is armed with gravel-soil-core wall at a maximum height of 315 meters. Since the start of construction, Shuangjiangkou Hydropower Station has actively carried out intelligent engineering construction, and has built a smart dam, a smart underground powerhouse, and a smart platform for forest and grassland fire prevention and control. Besides, it has successively set up 5G base stations in the work area by using 5G plus intelligent rolling, automatic transportation of earth and stone materials, intelligent water replenishment and other technologies. Through these approaches, intelligent monitoring, early warning and feedback control of construction quality in the whole process of mining involving transportation, rolling and quality inspection of dam materials are realized, thus ensuring the quality and progress of dam filling.

In response to frequent occurrence of heat waves and geological disasters in Sichuan during the flood season this year, the Shuangjiangkou branch of the company has introduced aerial photogrammetry technology, combined manual measurement and drone operation, and broken the limits of original traditional angle and distance. With the unique bird’s-eye view of unmanned aerial vehicles, comprehensive safety inspection is carried out of high slopes, boulder groups and dangerous rock masses. The aerial photography area fully covered the construction disturbance parts such as the dam foundation pit, rare-plant botanical gardens and the entrance and exit slopes of the flood discharge system. This method avoids the continuous operation of traditional manual survey in hot weather, reduces measurement time, and realizes the omni-directional regional survey without blind areas, thus providing accurate data support for the construction of high dams in summer.