Field Trip #1: Hydraulic Engineering Masterpiece, Earthquake Damage and Geohazard

Chengdu---Dujiangyan---Yingxiu---Chengdu

We will first visit two hydraulic engineering masterpieces located in the Minjiang River Basin in the western Chengdu Plain: Dujiangyan and Zipingpu Dam. The Dujiangyan Irrigation System is a grand water conservancy project that is ancient and the only one remaining in the world. It is characterized by its unique feature of water diversion without dams. It has been in existence for over 2250 years and continues to protect and irrigate millions of acres of fertile land in the Chengdu Plain. The Zipingpu Dam, located only 17km away from the epicenter of the Wenchuan earthquake, withstood the test of the earthquake with seismic intensity X. Afterward, We will also explore Yingxiu Town, the epicenter, where Xuankou Middle School stands as a frozen reminder of the mega earthquake. Additionally, we'll investigate two large-scale debris flow channels to understand the devastating earthquake and high-frequent post-earthquake geo-hazards.