Home to the world’s oldest irrigation system, Dujiangyan, Chengdu has a rich history in hydraulics. It was an obvious choice when the Chinese government authorized the establishment of its first key laboratory for hydraulic engineering at SCU in 1988. The State Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering (SKLH) specializes in hydraulics and dam engineering, dam and reservoir safety, as well as mountain river dynamics and protection. Having worked on most of the major rivers flowing through southwest China, such as the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, and Lancang River, SKLH has been part of multiple major hydraulic and hydro-power engineering projects in China and made prominent contributions to the integrated development and protection of mountain and river regions.
Flood discharge and energy dissipation technologies are crucial for high dam projects. SKLH has developed a series of new technologies and applied them to the finest high dam hydropower stations, including Jinping I and Xiluodu.
Its technology with high-water head and large discharge flow is recognised as advanced in China and around the world.
On the Jinping-II mega hydropower project, intended to generate 4,800 MW annually, SKLH has solved sediment problems with dam building. The laboratory has also performed a forecast of the impact of dam construction on river environments, monitoring and analysing stability of bank slopes and maintaining dams for key hydraulic engineering projects.
The lab team has researched the development and management of water resources, established a system of risk analysis for catastrophic mountain flash flood disasters, and studied integrated optimal regulation of cascade hydropower plants.
Over the years, SKLH has won more than a dozen national science and technology awards, obtained more than 100 domestic and international invention patents, and published hundreds of papers on high-level international journals. It has gained an international reputation by hosting the 35th World Congress of the International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research (IAHR) and establishing long-term collaborations with world-renowned research institutions.