The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 884 Inspection Work
After spending five days at the construction site of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River, Liu Tao went to inspect the four major hydropower stations on the Jinsha River.

The four major hydropower stations on the Jinsha River, the Three Gorges Hydropower Station, and the five "century projects" have brought together half of China's water conservancy talents.

Together with reservoirs, hydropower stations, irrigation areas, water diversion projects, etc. in other places, a large number of jobs have been created, driving the development of various industries such as construction materials, electromechanical equipment, etc.

The country is constantly increasing its efforts to train water conservancy talents. Some schools even have water conservancy-related majors where students only stay in school for one year before being taken to the construction site by teachers to learn while working.

At present, the number of college entrance examination admissions has exceeded 160 million, and there are millions of college students graduating every year, but they are still absorbed by society.

In this era, the demand for talents in all walks of life is huge.

There is no problem of college graduates not being able to find a job, unless the college graduates do not want to work.

At present, a semi-allocation system is adopted for employment of college graduates.

The school allocates a part, and major state-owned enterprises and private enterprises recruit from the school to solve the other part.

The competition for talent is still ongoing.

Talents are needed in all aspects, which makes college students still popular. Although not as good as the third batch, for most children from ordinary families, graduation can change their own destiny and the destiny of their family.

A large number of infrastructure projects such as water conservancy projects, expressway projects, high-speed rail projects, railway upgrading and renovation projects, road and municipal engineering projects, etc. have created a large number of jobs, greatly boosted the economic development of local governments, and also promoted the development of related industries.

For example, building a road requires construction materials such as cement, gravel, sand, and steel bars, as well as water and electricity, and hiring people to do the work. Green belts require the purchase of seedlings or turf seeds.

It is also because of these large-scale infrastructure, real estate development, and accelerated urbanization that factories throughout society are frantically expanding their production capacity.

No matter how much the steel mills expand their production capacity, it seems that it is not enough!

Cement plants are constantly expanding their production capacity, which seems like a bottomless pit: they use up as much as they produce.

The construction of the four major hydropower stations on the Jinsha River began in mid-1989 and has been underway for five and a half years.

Liu Tao first came to the Xiangjiaba Hydropower Station, which is 157 kilometers upstream from the dam site of the Xiluodu Hydropower Station, 1.5 kilometers downstream from the urban area of ​​Shuifu County and 33 kilometers from the urban area of ​​YB.

这一座水电站正常蓄水位380米时，可以保证出电200.9万千万，年平均发电量307.47亿千瓦时，总装机容量775万千瓦（8台80万千瓦巨型水轮机和3台45万千瓦大型水轮机）。

"Leader, the first batch of units are now generating electricity successfully, and the construction will be completed in another two years!" Ye Xianggao, chief engineer of Xiangjiaba Hydropower Station, said confidently.

The construction progress of Xiangjiaba Hydropower Station is ahead of the original schedule.

"You did a great job. I will commend you for your contribution!" Liu Tao said.

The Xiangjiaba Project can be said to be equivalent to one-third of the Three Gorges Project.

The Three Gorges Hydropower Station Project and the Jinsha River Four Hydropower Station Project are connected as one. The annual power generation of the Jinsha River Four Hydropower Stations is almost equivalent to that of two Three Gorges Hydropower Stations, and they also solve the biggest problem of the Three Gorges - siltation.

The middle reaches of the Jinsha River is one of the main sand-producing areas of the Yangtze River. The average annual sand content is 1.7 kilograms per cubic meter, which is about 1/2 of the amount of sand entering the Three Gorges Reservoir.

In the future, a large amount of sand will be produced here every year for construction projects.

To be honest, the construction progress of Xiangjiaba Hydropower Station has been beyond imagination. The construction team has overcome a lot of difficulties and experienced many tests. In more than four years, it has experienced two floods that occur once in 2 years and one flood that occurs once in 10 years. The first batch of units of Xiangjiaba Hydropower Station started generating electricity in May, and the power generation is very impressive.

It was also the first batch of power generation from the four major hydropower stations on the Jinsha River that ensured that there were no power outages in cities in East China from May this year to now.

The ±800 kV DC UHV localization demonstration project from Xiangjiaba Hydropower Station to Shanghai is currently the country's highest and most advanced power system with the highest transmission voltage level. It has been submitted to the state and has won provincial and ministerial awards. It is very likely to win a national award this year.

At present, the Xiangjiaba Hydropower Station has already received the praise it deserves, but it will have to wait until the project is completed to receive the award.

Liu Tao and Ye Xianggao walked together, watching the water flow down and drive the giant water turbine, continuously converting water energy into mechanical energy, which is a clean energy.

The four major hydropower stations on the Jinsha River and the Three Gorges Hydropower Station mainly transmit electricity from west to east and supply it to the east China region.

Liu Tao repaired some defects of the Xiangjiaba Hydropower Station and had a meal at the construction site. The food at the construction site was not bad, with fish, meat and vegetables, and the soup was seaweed and egg soup.

Then Liu Tao went to Xiluodu Hydropower Station in the evening.

The Xiluodu Hydropower Station is located at the junction of Leibo County in Sichuan and Yongshen County in Yunnan Province. The four major hydropower stations on the Jinsha River are comprehensive water conservancy projects that integrate power generation, flood control, sand retention, and navigation.

The original canyon has now become a calm lake.

It can be said that another miracle of a flat lake emerging from a high gorge was born in China.

When the hydropower station is fully operational, its annual power generation will be roughly equivalent to the energy released by burning 2200 million tons of coal.

In other words, it is equivalent to burning 2200 million tons less coal each year, reducing more than 40 million tons of carbon dioxide and more than tons of nitrogen dioxide.

The Xiluodu Hydropower Station's first unit, Unit 13 on the right bank, was put into operation not long ago.

It is expected that all units will be officially put into production and completed in two years.

The combined power generation of the Xiangjiaba Hydropower Station and the Xiluodu Hydropower Station is slightly greater than that of the Three Gorges Dam.

When Liu Tao arrived at Xiluodu Hydropower Station, the chief engineer of Xiluodu Hydropower Station, Weng Yongqiang, was already waiting for him.

Weng Yongqiang was appointed as the chief design engineer of the Xiluodu Hydropower Station in 1985. He led his team through mountains and rivers to conduct on-site surveys, and it took four years to complete a series of design work.

After completing all the design work, Weng Yongqiang was appointed as the chief engineer of the Xiluodu Hydropower Station and led the construction team to start the arduous construction.

Back then, Weng Yongqiang served as an apprentice under Soviet experts and participated in the Sanmenxia Water Conservancy Project. Now he is the chief engineer of the Xiluodu Hydropower Station. In the past fifteen years, Weng Yongqiang has served as the chief designer and chief engineer of three large reservoir hydropower stations. He has extremely solid professional knowledge and construction experience. He was then appointed as the chief designer and chief engineer of the Xiluodu Hydropower Station and participated in the design of the Three Gorges Dam.

Speaking of Weng Yongqiang, he is definitely an authoritative expert in China's water conservancy and hydropower profession.

Weng Yongqiang, who had black hair back then, now has white hair, and he is only less than 60 years old this year.

Liu Tao held Weng Yongqiang's hand tightly and said with concern: "Old man, the revolution has not yet succeeded. You must take care of your health. Your health is the capital of the revolution!"

"Leader, the Xiluodu Hydropower Station is about to be completed. It is worth it even if I die to participate in this great cause!" Weng Yongqiang grinned, "I am still strong. As long as the motherland needs me, I can work healthily for another 20 years!"

(End of this chapter)