On October 26, 2026, the announcement of the winning bidder candidates for the Xiqiaokou Sand and Stone Aggregate Project of the Yellow River Guxian Water Conservancy Hub was officially released. This large-scale water conservancy hub on the main stream of the Yellow River, after Xiaolangdi, has shifted from comprehensive preparation in the early stage to a large-scale dam body attack stage.

The key calibration of the super sand and gravel section has been completed

The mining and sand and gravel processing system section of Xiqukou Quarry, which was announced this time, is currently the largest single section of Guxian Engineering. The first winning bidder, China Water Resources and Hydropower Ninth Engineering Bureau Co., Ltd., quoted about 4.232 billion yuan, while the second and third candidates are Hydropower Seventh Bureau and Hydropower Eighth Bureau respectively. All three units have mature construction experience in large-scale hydropower sand and gravel systems. The Ninth Bureau of Hydroelectric Power had previously won the sand and gravel processing system project of a hydropower station in Yaxia with a slight advantage. This time, with a slightly higher bid, it finally won the Guxian Super Sand and gravel section, becoming the dark horse in this election.

The Xiqiukou material yard is the only main source of aggregates selected by the Guxian Project. The sand and gravel system is designed to process 5500 tons per hour, covering the entire chain from mining and processing to 65 kilometers of long-distance belt transportation. It is a prerequisite for ensuring the river closure in 2027 and the continuous high-intensity pouring of the dam body. The entire system passes through steep slopes in goaf canyons along the route, and the construction process requires simultaneous consideration of slope stability, dust prevention, and soil and water conservation. The technical complexity far exceeds that of ordinary quarrying and processing projects.

Synchronous entry of central enterprise clusters across the entire industry chain

The Guxian Water Conservancy Hub is located in the middle section of the Jinshan Gorge, on the left bank of Jixian County in Shanxi Province and on the right bank of Yichuan in Shaanxi Province. It is adjacent to the upstream of Hukou Waterfall and controls 65% of the total catchment area of the Yellow River, collecting 73% of the water volume, 60% of the sediment, and 80% of the coarse sediment. It is the core node for intercepting the coarse sediment of the Yellow River. The hub adopts a roller compacted concrete gravity dam with a maximum height of 219.5 meters, an annual power generation of about 2.87 billion kilowatt hours, and an annual water supply of 2.346 billion cubic meters to irrigate 1.46 million acres of farmland. It is planned to be fully completed by 2034.

At present, multiple state-owned enterprises under China Electric Power Construction and China Railway have all entered the construction site. The diversion tunnel will be constructed by Water and Electricity 14th Bureau, Water and Electricity 3rd Bureau, Water and Electricity 4th Bureau, Water and Electricity 7th Bureau, and China Railway 3rd Bureau, China Railway 5th Bureau, and China Railway 18th Bureau respectively. Keywords: water conservancy projects, infrastructure projects

With the landing of the core section of sand and gravel, the entire project has officially entered a new construction cycle from the preparation stage of road construction, excavation, and slope cleaning, to large-scale concrete production and dam body tackling, forming rigid support for the smooth realization of river closure in 2027.Editor/Cheng Liting