Abstract: The asphalt concrete core has very good property in seepage prevention and deformation adaptability, and so is more and more widely used in earth-rock dam. Its engineering properties including temperature sensitivity, durability, anti-seismic characteristics, anti-hydraulic fracturing are distinguished from conventional concrete and general rock and soil mass. In order to break through the technical bottleneck of 150m dam height of asphalt concrete core wall dam, to solve technical problems of directly constructing high asphalt concrete core wall dam in conditions of deep overburden layer, cold region and major earthquake and to eliminate environmental pollution caused by heated asphalt construction, Yangtze River Scientific Research Institute has carried out researches on asphalt concrete core wall dam since the 1990s, including Three Gorges Maopingxi protective dam, Huangjinping hydropower station, Laluo hydro project and Karot hydropower station. Static, dynamic and creep triaxial temperature controlling equipment are developed and applied to researches. A great deal of achievements are acquired on the engineering properties of rolled asphalt concrete core wall. The research status of hydraulic asphalt concrete in China and abroad is summarized. On this basis, five critical issues of rolled asphalt concrete core wall are discussed, and the research progress and achievements on asphalt concrete by Yangtze River Scientific Research Institute are introduced. This paper could be a scientific basis for the design, construction and operation management of rock-fill dam with asphalt concrete core under similar complex conditions.