In water conservancy projects， choosing a reasonable dam type is one of the conditions to ensure the economic and reasonable design of the project.In order to select a reasonable dam type for Gaolou Reservoir，according to the geological conditions，natural building materials and other conditions， initially select three types of dam types：face rockfill dam，concrete gravity dam，and clay core wall dam.In-depth comparison and selection studies were conducted in terms of construction conditions， engineering investment and engineering volume， and finally the concrete gravity dam type was recommended as the design dam type.The research results can be used as reference for similar engineering design.