The big China of the infrastructure madness is on fire again!
China has not only built amazing infrastructure projects at home, but it is also internationally renowned for helping many countries solve difficult problems.
This time, he helped Sudan build a foreign version of the "Three Gorges Dam" - the Merowe Dam, which directly "cut off" the Nile, the longest river in the world, and such a feat made the United States and Japan call it impossible.
Why is it that China can build a project that no other country dares to take, and what benefits can China have after the project is completed?
The "big problem" that came from the initiative
The opportunity is actively earned, but it is also necessary to have the strength to seize it, and China is just right!
Sudan is an African country, and its people are living in dire straits due to natural geographical factors, and the "main culprit" is the harsh climate.
Northern Sudan is a large desert, with little rain all year round and very prone to drought, with annual rainfall exceeding 50 mm, but southern Sudan is the complete opposite, with abundant rain all year round, but it is prone to flooding, and many families have suffered from it.
The Nile is the mother river of the Sultan, and the people living along the river can only rely on luck, and the geometry of the harvest depends on the sky.
In addition, the development of Sudan's electricity system is also difficult to describe, most people still rely on kerosene lamps for lighting, and only 40% of the people use electricity, because Sudan's industrial development has also stagnated due to the slump in electricity.
In 2009, Sudan planned to build a dam on the Nile River in order to solve all these problems, hoping that the dam project would not only change people's livelihoods, but also turn the fortunes of the entire country around.
But it is clear that Sudan, which is in dire straits, does not have the ability to build a dam on the world's longest river on its own, so it has opened an international tender for bidding.
Not to mention, such a large project immediately attracted the attention of many countries, but many countries withdrew after knowing the specific requirements, and Sudan can only hope for United States and Japan.
The United States did not dare to say big things, and went to the target site very rigorously to investigate first, but the "harsh" climate and geological conditions were a headache, and after a comprehensive assessment, it refused.
Japan, on the other hand, underestimated its own strength and overestimated the difficulty of the project, and directly said that it would not accept it in order not to smash the signboard.
The Sultan was disheartened by the evasive attitude, but it was then that China, an infrastructure maniac, stepped forward and confidently said we could.
This is not China's rhetoric, because by then we had already handed over the perfect case of the Three Gorges Dam, and this project alone will prove our strength.
Then, according to the local geographical conditions and water quality conditions in Sudan, China put forward a set of customized plans according to local conditions, and this sincerity successfully impressed the Sudanese government, and China successfully won the project.
In addition to proving its strength, China has also been very generous in providing financial support, and the whole world is waiting for China to deliver a perfect answer.
The conundrum that followed
It wasn't until the Chinese team arrived in Sudan that we realized that the task was really not easy, and one difficulty after another sprung up like mushrooms after a rain.
First of all, the average temperature was over 40°C, and the team had to endure dry and hot weather and long periods of bright sunlight while working.
The second is the complex geological conditions, such as the sandy base is difficult to nail into the foundation, and frequent sandstorms affect the operation efficiency and personnel safety.
However, the Chinese team has a characteristic, that is, it is getting stronger and stronger in infrastructure, creating special concrete for loose weathering geology, and sand control measures that are suitable for local conditions to ensure that the project can be carried out smoothly.
After that, the Chinese team used high-pressure jet spraying, deep stirring and other technologies to solve the problem of matrix instability, effectively improving the seismic resistance and overall stability.
In order to save costs, we try our best to use reasonable local resources and try to adapt to local conditions in the context of the local underdeveloped transportation level.
At the same time, we have also taken into account the issue of environmental protection, reserved a migration channel in the dam in advance for fish to move, and comprehensively tested the environmental impact of the construction to minimize the damage.
It is this professional and efficient construction team, with the joint efforts of 5,400 personnel, that completed a large project that is estimated to take 20 years in other countries in only 7 years.
China has taken up this test, and this time the answer sheet has attracted the attention of the world.
The Merowe Dam on the Nile is the longest dam in the world, with a length of 9,285 meters, almost four times the length of China's Three Gorges Dam.
The Nile was dammed by a dam that seemed to cut it off entirely, and it also formed a giant artificial lake.
Don't underestimate this artificial lake, it has a storage capacity of 12.5 billion cubic meters, what is this concept, about the size of 500,000 Olympic swimming pools.
In the end, the entire project cost 4 billion yuan, which is a lot of money, but the benefits of the Meroway dam are enough to outweigh the value.
The first is the convenience of electricity, Sudan has had a stable power supply since then, and with the annual supply of 5.55 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, Sudan no longer has the dilemma of power shortage.
In the hot summer, you can have an electric belt to bring up a fan and air conditioner, and you are no longer afraid of the unbearable heat.
The second is the benefit of irrigation, which is much easier to irrigate in the arid areas of the north and flood-stricken areas in the south.
According to incomplete statistics, the amount of land that can be irrigated is far more than 1 million hectares, which is the size of 1.5 million football fields, and it is believed that Sudan's agriculture will be further advanced in the future.
The dam is a milestone in Sudan's history, and it has also added a significant touch to China's infrastructure map.
The completion of the dam has also promoted the friendship between China and Sudan, which is a beautiful testimony to international cooperation and a great reputation for China's international infrastructure.
China's ability to accomplish such a huge project is inseparable from the mainland's growing national strength, and we have completed projects that neither United States nor Japan dare to take, and this is the confidence of our Chinese.
At the same time, it also shows the professional level of China's engineers and workers, and the spirit of not admitting defeat and not giving up is also the embodiment of China's image.
Resources:
[1] Xinhua News Agency, 2006-01-21, "China Builds the Second Dam on the Nile"
[2] Yang Manling. An analysis of China's infrastructure aid to Africa: A case study of Sudan and Ethiopia[D].Chongqing:Chongqing University,2018