Abstract: The effective detection of micro cracks in hydraulic concrete and quantization of their parameters are the focus of the prevention and control of cracks in hydraulic concrete, which is discussed at the beginning of the paper. Based on the research progress of crack detection method for hydraulic concrete structure, the detection mechanism and feature of manual detection method, destructive detection method, and non-destructive testing method are analyzed in detail. From the analysis, it turns out that ultrasonic infrared thermography comprehensive method is the only one able to effectively detect micro cracks at present stage. But in the aspect of quantization of micro crack parameters, further research is needed for ultrasonic infrared thermography comprehensive method. At last, it is summed up that the detection and quantization of micro cracks shall be the future research focus. In addition, using the simulation of concrete cracks as study assistance will become main research method.