Wenzhou’s Water conservancy project wins the “Oscar Award” of China’s construction industry for the first time

The Oufei phase-one land reclamation project (north section) was announced the winner of the Luban Award (2020-2021), the highest honor in China’s construction engineering quality, at the awarding ceremony held in Nanning, South China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, marking Wenzhou’s first Luban award-winning project for water conservancy. Mr. Ni Shizhang, chairman of Oufei Group, received the award from Mr. Zhang Xiaohong, vice minister of the State Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

Guided by the State Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the China Construction Industry Association, Luban Award is reputed as the“Oscar Award” of China’s construction industry. Every two years, the candidates for the award will have to pass assessments from a panel of leading engineering experts before being selected as awardees.

The project covers the fields of flood control, agriculture, fishery, ecology and port, and is the major contributor to the comprehensive development of marine resources in East China’s Zhejiang Province. A land area of 4,426 hectares will be reclaimed from the river shoals located between the Oujiang River estuary and Rui’an’s Feiyun River. With an investment of 13.824 billion yuan, three seawalls that are 4.3 kilometers, 16.0 kilometers and 3.0 kilometers long respectively, together with seawall 1# of 2.4kilometers, two large-scale floodgates and two medium-scale floodgates, are to be constructed within 9 and a half years. The 23.3-kilometer levee is expected to greatly strengthen Wenzhou’s capacity for flood control and typhoon resistance, while the 4,426-hectare reclaimed land remains the strategic reserve for Wenzhou’s sustainable economic development.

The project, initiated in 2010, is a success of the collective wisdom of 26 leading scientific research institutions, and over 530 Chinese academicians, experts and scholars. A total of 102 meetings and discussions at different levels were held within one and a half years, addressing 71 technical concerns. Its report on the impact of sea-use planning on the marine environment has been made an example for its counterparts by the State Ministry of Natural Resources. Large as the entire project is, it received approvals quite soon and has been carried out strictly in accordance with the norms.

The project is part and parcel of Wenzhou’s flood control system. After its completion, the reservoir discharged ahead of flood and typhoon seasons and spared more than 88 million cubic meters of reservoir capacity, enabling the city to weather 7 strong typhoons and 5 flood periods. The people and arable land in the 164-square-kilometer area were thus protected against floods and tides. The project also comprises an agriculture-light complementary photovoltaic (PV) power plant worthy of a 1.05-billion-yuan investment and a fishery-light complementary PV power plant worthy of a 2.45-billion-yuan investment, with an average annual power generation capacity of 150 million kWh and 600 million kWh respectively. Such efforts can reduce about 75,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide and 2,250 tonnes of sulphur dioxide annually compared to thermal power plants, resulting in substantial environmental, economic and social benefits. The project, after its completion, will create 26.4-square-kilometer aquaculture waters, 7.2-square-kilometer ocean areas for renewable energy and 2.4-square-kilometer arable land, laying a solid foundation for the blue economy-based clusters in eastern Wenzhou and its future socioeconomic growth. (ZhongXin)