PCCP was shown up in “Leap Forward”, the first episode of “Clear River running northward” on CCTV Across China Program.

Recently, Across China Program in CCTV 4 Channel broadcasted a 5-episode documentary titled as “Clear River Running Northward”. The documentary introduced to the world the construction and operating management of “middle route of south-to-north water transfer project”, which is considered as a benchmark project.

In the first episode “Leap forward”, the documentary introduced the application of PCCP in Beijing section of “south-to-north water transfer project” in detail.

Narrative:

Water from Danjiangkou Reservoir finally arrived in Beijing, after surging through more than 1000 kilometers in 15 days. How would the water be transported after it reaches Beijing?

Various plans were designed for this issue. One is to build an open tunnel, which was immediately denied due to the extreme scarcity of space in Beijing and the high price to relocate residues. 

Engineers then plotted another plan by using box culvert and steel pipes. However, box culverts and steel pipes are only adaptable to flat areas. The complicated geological environment makes the construction extremely difficult. 

Eventually, engineers gave another plan by using PCCP. The limited space occupation and high safety factor became the primary reasons to choose it. 

However, here comes the question; are these pipes strong and durable enough? PCCP is a type of prestressed concrete cylindrical pipe which is built on a steel cylinder and concrete are cast on the outside of the cylinder, which forms a tube core around 300 mm thick. After prestressed steel wires are installed around the outside of the tube core, and with the help of anti-corrosion coatings, PCCP is successfully constructed and safety ensured.

The installation accuracy of PCCP is stunning high, with about 6 mm tolerance per pipe which prevent the occurrence of water penetration. In general 7 to 8 pipes are installed every day.

The technology of PCCP has been introduced into China for 30 years. Currently PCCP has been successfully applied in various important projects such as “Water Diversion from Yellow River to Jin”, “South-to-north Water Diversion Project”, “Water Diversion in Liaoning Dahuofang”, “Water Diversion in Northwest Liaoning”, “Water Diversion in Guangzhou Xijiang”, “Water Diversion from Songhuajiang to Changchun in Jilin”, “Water Diversion in North Hubei”, etc.

The structural design, manufacture, quality control and standard implementation of PCCP in China have been developed to be most advanced globally. The key technology problems encountered in ultra-large diameter PCCP were successfully resolved during the “middle route of south-to-north water diversion project”. The capability to build PCCP production facility and equipments has been greatly improved so that the whole production line can be manufactured in China and have been exported abroad. PCCP is now considered as a perfect solution for the construction of mega projects in our mega country, including municipal water supply, recycled water supply pipes for fuel electric plants and nuclear plants, mega sewage pipes, especially for the construction of high inner pressure, large diameter and long distance water supply projects.