The reconstructed Baiteng Sluice Gates will be operational by September to start controlling floods for at least the next century, the Doumen Water Resources Bureau announced on April 21.

The sluice gates are located between Jinwan District's Hongqi Town and Hezhou in Doumen where the Niwanmen Waterway and Tiansheng River meet north of the Niwanmen Bridge of Zhuhai Avenue. The nearby area of North Hezhou, lying below the gates and between the Zhuhai and Niwanmen bridges, is to become a key transport hub with high-speed railways, subways, and intercity MRTs convening there. Directly north of the gates are Baijiao and Jing'an Towns.

The key water conservancy project is the only large-scale flood-control structure in Zhuhai City. It is intended to benefit 100,000 people in an area of 70,000 mu (4,667 hectares, 11,532 acres) through damp-proofing, flood drainage, and safer navigation.

New Baiteng Sluice Gates with Baiteng Lake and Hongqi Town in background [Photo by Zeng Yao / Guanhai App]

Fourteen water gates are now in place, as is the major underwater structure for a foundation pit. Work on an apron and anti-scour trench is underway. A construction-enabling cofferdam will be demolished by the end of this month.

The structure is said to meet the official criteria for tidal and flood control. By this year's major flood season, it is designed to alleviate waterlogging in coordination with other sluices, pump stations, and newly built diversion channels in the Baiteng Lake area, according to the project manager, Cai Muyao.

The sluiceway, designed with a maximum water discharge rate of 1,414.5 cubic m per second, can withstand 24 hours of once-in-a-decade incessant downpour, and lower outer river tidal levels to discharge water to lower levels in one day, something rarely seen in five years. It will allow the navigation of vessels of up to 100 tons.

Built in 1974, the former sluice facility presented serious safety hazards due to outdated equipment, fractures, and dislocations caused by differential settlement. The Guangdong Provincial Department of Water Resources approved reconstruction after a safety appraisal in 2015 and work on the 14 sluice gates and associated administration building commenced in October 2018.

To the north, enveloping Baijiao Town, are the Southeastern, Southwestern, Tianshenghe, and Baiteng pumping stations.