Since the reform and opening up, China has developed rapidly in various channels, and has won praises from people from all walks of life for its superior business capabilities and comprehensive standards. "South-to-North Water Diversion Project", four horizontal and three vertical, north-south deployment, east-west mutual aid; "Gezhouba Water Control Project", the first dam built on the Long March, a milestone in the history of hydropower construction. Even other countries in the world recognize China very much. This can be seen from the cooperation projects that China helps other countries. For this reason, China also has a title, that is, "infrastructure madman", which is enough to reflect China's strength. . Of course, in addition to large and small water conservancy projects in the domestic field, China Water Resources also handed in a beautiful and satisfactory answer sheet for foreign-related projects.

In 2003, the civil construction of the Danlovi Dam in Sudan started, which took five and a half years to "cut off" the world's longest river. Before that, some voices in the international community said that this was a completely impossible task. However, China Water Conservancy has "fired all over the world" with this move.

Life is difficult, spending huge sums of money to build dams

Sudan, located in northeastern Africa, on the coast of the Red Sea, at the eastern end of the Sahara Desert, has a land area of 1,886,068 square meters, which cannot reach the level of other countries. After crossing the long river of history and entering the new century and new era, Sudan's economy has always fallen behind. Life is even more difficult. Before the completion of the Merowe Dam, the total installed capacity of Sudan was only 600,000 kilowatts, that is to say, there was no mature supporting power grid, and even the electricity produced in the country could not meet the municipal electricity consumption of the capital, Lhotum, let alone in the various small towns that are listed below the capital. In order to provide daily life, Sudanese people can only rely on diesel generators to generate their own lighting, but this is followed by huge noise and air pollution. Under such difficult living conditions, the surviving Sudanese people are miserable.

Sudan is rich in water resources, and the Nile River, which is known as "the longest river in the world", was formed under the confluence of the capital of Sudan, Gao Shangmu. The Nile River, a river flowing through eastern and northern Africa, flows into the Mediterranean Sea from west to north. 6670 km. According to the 1959 "Nile Agreement", Sudan can receive 20 billion cubic meters of river water from the tributaries of the Nile every year, and 40 billion cubic meters of seasonal rivers and groundwater, plus 1,000 mm of annual rainfall, Sudan's per capita fresh water reaches 5,300 cubic meters . In theory, Sudan has such abundant water resources that it should not still suffer from "thirst". In fact, due to Sudan's long-term civil war and the impact of the natural environment, Sudan's water resources have been difficult to supply everyone for many years. need. Building a dam on the Nile River was the best solution after the integration of Sudan, but at that time, such a long dam project was very rare, not only domestically, but also internationally.

In 2003, after careful consideration, the Sudanese government decided to build the Merowe Dam project in the upper reaches of the Nile River to improve the daily life of the people and solve the problem of power shortage in a large area of the country. The "600 million euros" contract fee was the sincerity handed over by Sudan, and it was also the highest amount of all the previous international projects of the Chinese engineering team at that time. "If you want to wear a crown, you must bear its weight." Together with the high contract money, unprecedented difficulties and challenges are delivered. China Water Resources and Electric Power Corporation took the lead and formed a joint venture with China Water Resources and Hydropower Construction Group. After defeating an internationally renowned engineering company, it won this "huge" project in one fell swoop. Even though Sudan had high hopes for this project at that time, in fact, neither the Sudanese people nor the German engineers believed that the Chinese engineering team could successfully complete the closure of the Nile River. In the established concept of some people, this is an impossible task. Under pressure and in the face of voices that some people are not optimistic about, the Chinese engineering team is diligent and diligent, and it is bound to find a correct solution.

bitter tears, sweet fruit

The Chinese engineering team arrived in Sudan, far away from the motherland. A group of people came to this endless yellow sand covered with no living supplies, the endless Nile River, and the unknown future road filled. For a while, my heart was filled with emotion. At this moment, the Sudanese came to Yang Zhong, the person in charge of the Merowe Dam. They first looked up and down the crowd, and then said. "You build a power station here. We hope that you will take care of the Nile River as a mother. We Sudanese have lived well without a hydropower station for 5,000 years. But if there is no Nile River, we will definitely not live tomorrow. You take good care of the environment here."

Yang Zhong knew that for the Sudanese, the "Nile River" was their mother river, and there was no need to elaborate on its importance. Instead, Yang Zhong solemnly nodded to the Sudanese and promised that he would cherish it. After the rest of the engineering team saw Yang Zhong's assurance, they nodded their heads in twos and threes. The Sudanese looked at the Chinese who were making the assurance in front of them, stopped for a while, and finally lifted their feet and left, constantly looking back. The members of the Chinese engineering team glanced at each other, and then glanced at the "reluctant" Sudanese. After cheering each other on, they breathed a sigh of relief and threw themselves into the construction. How big is this challenge? To put it simply, it is a complete process from scratch. For the Chinese engineering team who first landed on this barren land, the real challenge has just begun.

Sudan's industrial technology is very poor, and even a simple nail cannot be produced. In desperation, all the equipment and materials needed by the engineering team must be shipped from China and around the world. There are very few bridges that can be used for traffic on the entire Nile River. It is estimated that only thirty bridges have been built, but they are all far away from where the Chinese engineering team is located. It is obviously very unrealistic to build a concrete bridge in a short period of time, so after careful research, Yang Zhong and others finally came up with a countermeasure. In China, engineering teams often needed to build pontoon bridges on the Yangtze River to meet some special requirements, and over time, China's technology in building pontoon bridges has matured. As a result, the Chinese engineering team designed a pontoon bridge across the Nile River, which can rise and fall freely with the rise and fall of the water level, so that heavy vehicles carrying materials can walk. To a certain extent, the problem of the Chinese engineering team's shortage of materials has been solved, and such a pontoon bridge with such an important significance was completed in just over a month. Engineering construction is never an overnight process. Compared with people's inherent concept, it is more complicated, long, arduous, and monotonous. Every day, with a little bit of concrete and a piece of steel, a little bit of accumulation, a little bit of stockpiling, the long prototype of the Merowe Dam has begun to appear. For the completion of the project, the Chinese engineering team has greater confidence. In the eyes of others, this is an arduous and complicated task. In the eyes of the Chinese who are born stubborn, it is only a matter of time. However, the disapproval of some international voices, to a certain extent, still affected the Chinese engineering team at that time. The language barrier, life was not smooth, and there were constant voices of doubt. The morale of the Chinese engineering team has also experienced a downturn, and his diligent work has yielded one question after another. Slowly, the Chinese engineering team also got out of such a sluggish state. All the team members uphold a belief in their hearts: as long as they do it seriously, with dedication and hard work, there will be rewards in the end. Relying on such a belief, the Chinese engineering team continued to persevere, worked hard to overcome one problem after another, and showed the Merowe Dam, which was beginning to take shape, in front of everyone.

Sudan's national leader in person at the scene of interception

With the efforts of the Chinese engineering team day and night, the goal of interception was achieved. Sudan broadcasted the whole process live, and the president and vice president of Sudan also attended the scene. The Sudanese people who came from all over Sudan to watch the splendid event gathered together in a loud voice. Seeing that everyone was almost there, the commander-in-chief of the Chinese engineering team gave an order. Dozens of dump trucks loaded with earth and stone were methodically intercepting and filling up the river. In a few minutes, the turbulent Nile River was blocked in the middle, and the rapid torrent rushed downstream through the newly built floodway. Many Sudanese, as well as those who had been skeptical, and the German engineer who supervised the project, kept sighing. "The Chinese have created a miracle." Yes, China has become popular all over the world again and again, taking on difficult projects that may be difficult to complete in the eyes of others, and handing in a beautiful result. single. "The Chinese people have cut off the longest river in the world. It's really amazing!" Yang Zhong's voices of admiration, big and small, echoed in Yang Zhong's ears. The significance of the Three Gorges Project to China is no less than that of the Three Gorges Project." In order to benefit the Sudanese people as soon as possible and win glory for the Chinese people, all Chinese employees have overcome many difficulties, and Sudan is known as the 'world's furnace'. "The surface temperature of the dam site often exceeds 40 degrees Celsius. In addition, the infrastructure here is poor and the construction conditions are extremely difficult. The Chinese construction personnel overcame the difficulties and finally achieved the expected results of the project construction, and also won the praise of the Sudanese government."

"Water", which can generate electricity, irrigate and protect the environment, is a huge wealth that Sudanese desperately need as a treasure. In the past many years, China's construction has been interfered and suppressed by Western countries, but with the passage of time, the stubborn Chinese have grown up little by little. The price of contracting the Merowe Dam is more than 10% lower than that of the West, and the price is much lower than that of the West, which is an impossible task in the eyes of some people. The main project of the dam was officially started in June 2003. The total amount of earth and stone excavation reached 30 million cubic meters, and the amount of concrete poured reached 1.64 million cubic meters. At the end of 2003, the first-phase closure was realized, the second-phase closure was realized at the end of 2005, and the necessary civil works for 1 or 2 units were completed in July 2006. In 2007, the first unit generated power, and the project was completed and handed over in June 2008. The civil engineering of the first unit only took three years from entry to completion.

Merowe Dam commemorates Sino-Soviet friendship

The Merowe Dam is a century project, the end of poverty in Sudan and the beginning of new development. As the Merowe Dam started to generate electricity, the Sudanese government announced that starting from June 30, 2009, Sudan's civil and industrial electricity costs will be reduced by 25%, and agricultural electricity consumption will be reduced by 50%. The Merowe Dam reservoir has a total storage capacity of 12.45 billion cubic meters, accumulating an artificial lake of 287 square kilometers, which can be compared with Lake Nasser. The irrigation line has been extended for more than 400 kilometers, and the irrigation area has reached more than 1 million mu, benefiting more than 4 million people. Sudan's agriculture has also undergone tremendous changes due to the Merowe Dam.

The ecological environment on both sides of the Nile River and the distribution of canals have all changed due to the arrival of the Merowe Dam, and the Sahara Desert has finally ushered in a precious water source. The Sudanese President praised the outstanding contributions of Chinese companies. Of course, the people of Sudan are the happiest. "After the completion of the Merowe Dam, the basic municipal electricity supply in Lhotum can be guaranteed. The price is also much cheaper than before, from daily The power supply has been powered for a few hours, and now there are few power outages, the change is simply too great." Citizen Mohammad was overjoyed.

Although the construction of this hydropower station was led by my country, many countries participated in it during this period, and Saudi Arabia also provided huge loans during the period, so this hydropower station has become one of the representative buildings of "South-South Cooperation". At the same time, it also reflects the strong strength and design of our country. This time, my country's "infrastructure madman" is well-deserved. Even now, the Merowe Dam still plays an important role in Sudan and bears an important role. There was a time when the Merowe Dam was also cut off, which was perfectly resolved under the great attention of China Water Resources. China Water Resources, with its high-quality service and superb technology, has presented China's progress and excellence in water conservancy projects to the Sudanese people. The Merowe Dam has thus become a witness of friendship and a model of cooperation between the peoples of China and Sudan.Editor/XingWentao