Saibao Dam

Saibao Dam

Saibao Dam is a cultural heritage site protected by Chuxiong Prefecture.

Saibao Dam is situated on the East River beside Heilongtan Village, near the Songjiapo Village Committee of Jinshan Town. Commonly known as Heilongtan Dam, it is actually a river-blocking and water-raising dam, not mainly for water storage. The dam is built with large stone slabs (varying in length from over 1.5 meters, all more than 0.2 meters in height and width) arranged vertically on the natural bedrock of the riverbed. The western side is built with 5 to 10 layers, while the eastern side has up to 13 layers of stone slabs. The dam is constructed in the shape of an isosceles trapezoid, measuring 50 meters in length, 3.4 meters in width at the top, and an average height of 3.5 meters. The outer slope is 3.6 meters wide, while the inner slope and water depth are unclear. On the western side of the dam, there is a water diversion channel that leads water 30 meters to the original mill, which was demolished and abandoned in the early 1980s. To the southeast of the dam, another water diversion channel was built to carry water along the eastern bank to Lufeng City, serving as a moat (during the Qing Dynasty) and for irrigating farmland. The main water channel extends approximately 5 kilometers to Beimen Street. The channel includes two spillway gates, five spillways, over ten small bridges, and three aqueducts. Among these structures, the most engineering-intensive and coeval with the dam’s construction is the Huajiao Mountain Big Flume, which is 16 meters long, 0.9 meters deep, 1.18 meters wide inside, with walls ranging from 0.9 to 1.8 meters in thickness, built using stone slabs. The aqueduct is 1.6 meters high, with piers standing 2.9 meters tall. This dam and channel were first built in the 49th year of the Kangxi reign (1710 AD) under the direction of then-county magistrate Liu Zitang. The water diversion system to Lufeng City has been in continuous use to this day, with only partial repairs made to the channel over time. Saibao Dam is closely tied to the urban development history of Lufeng City and represents a significant achievement in the city’s construction. It was designated as a county-level cultural heritage site in 2007.

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