Key technologies and future development trends of intelligent earth–rock dam construction

The rapid advancement of information technologies, such as cloud computing, internet of things (IoT), and big data, has significantly enhanced the intelligence level in dam construction. Intelligent monitoring systems for dam filling have garnered considerable attention from water conservancy and hydropower engineering units, owing to their capability for refined management and quality control of layered and compartmentalized construction processes. The construction of earth–rock dams has undergone a transformation, shifting from manual management of dam compaction equipment, layer management, and quality control to a comprehensive intelligent approach. This new approach encompasses fine-grained control of unit engineering, dam material identification, unmanned driving technology, real-time assessment and monitoring of compaction quality, and early warning forecasting. This article presents a systematic overview of key technologies employed in the intelligent construction process of earth–rock dams. These technologies include the fine decomposition of building information modeling (BIM) models on web platforms, rapid identification of dam material particle size, the application of autonomous driving technology for intelligent dam filling, and real-time monitoring and evaluation of dam compaction characteristics. Additionally, the paper discusses the latest research results in the field, building upon existing technology progress, and concludes by exploring the future development trends of intelligent dam construction. The construction of intelligent earth–rock dams serve as a crucial reference and valuable lessons for the development and construction of high earth–rock dam projects.