Considering the requirements of the Wuxue waterway regulation project, which is carried out in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, this paper presents an investigation of the advantages, disadvantages and destruction reasons of the traditional dam structure in channel regulation projects. Furthermore, according to the Wuxue waterway conditions, new dam body structural types, i.e. box dam and sand pillow bag-concrete covered dam are proposed and applied successfully in the project. The prospects of the new dam body structure are forecasted based on the application effects of the new dams.