The middle iron man who built a house in Antarctica

Mondo Three rural Updated on 2024-02-04

Shanghai News, February 3 (Zhang Jian) Recently, on the remote Ross Sea Enksburg Island in Antarctica, the main structure of the main building of the new Ross Sea Station, China's fifth Antarctic research station built by China Railway Construction Engineering Group, was officially capped, which is one step closer to the completion and commissioning of the new station.

"Building a house" in Antarctica is like "building blocks".

Located on Enksburg Island in the Ross Sea of Antarctica, the new station has a construction area of 5,244 square meters, and the main body is designed in the shape of the Southern Cross, which is derived from the Southern Cross used by the Chinese navigator Zheng He to navigate the West.

The new station in the Ross Sea includes independent scientific research facilities such as the main building (including the marine science observation platform), the geophysical observation building, the upper-air physics observation building, and the atmospheric observation building. The main functions include scientific research experiments, personnel accommodation, material and vehicle maintenance and storage, aviation support, communication support and other functions. The main building of the new station is divided into three areas: A, B and C. Zone B in the middle is a public area with restaurants, offices, etc., and in the future, through the large floor-to-ceiling windows in the restaurant area, you can look at the Melbourne volcano, and the scenery of the entire Terranova Bay can be seen. Regions A and C of the two wings are mirror-symmetrical, including areas such as marine laboratories. On the second floor, there is a dormitory for summer and wintering personnel, and you can see the scenery of the outside world from the dormitory, which can be described as a "mountain view room" and "sea view room" in Antarctica.

The construction of the new station in Ross Sea fully considers the special natural environmental conditions of Antarctica, and the building adopts a prefabricated and modular construction system, which reflects the characteristics of intensive, green and intelligent. In China, the prefabricated steel structure parts and functional modules have been tailor-made, and they can be "moved in" after the on-site assembly in Antarctica. At the same time, it adopts lightweight and high-strength construction technology and materials, which can resist ultra-low temperatures of minus 60 degrees Celsius and strong corrosion in coastal environments.

In order to ensure the smooth assembly and construction at the Antarctic site, the builders of the Ross Sea New Station of China Railway Construction Engineering Group carried out pre-assembly in China in July 2023. Wu Zhaobing, the head of the engineering team of the Ross Sea New Station Project of China Railway Construction Engineering Group, introduced: "More than 960 components of the entire structure have been built one to one in China. Through the pre-assembly process, we can check whether the design can meet the requirements and whether there are any problems with the geometric dimensions of the components. ”

Due to the lack of welding conditions at the Antarctic site, the steel structure of the new station in Ross Sea is completed by weather-resistant high-strength bolts. In order to ensure that the structural safety will not be affected in the later stage, China Railway Construction Engineering Group specially customized weather-resistant high-strength bolts to avoid this physical phenomenon.

After the construction of the "skeleton" of the steel structure, the second step is to install the functional modules. According to the functional division, the modules are divided into five categories: summer, wintering, office, laboratory, and toilet, with a total of 84. All functional modules are processed in China and installed on site, which greatly saves the construction time on site. Some large modules, such as laboratories, will be combined and renovated at a later stage.

The third step is to install the curtain wall panels and "dress" the Antarctic research station - the outside is a layer of stainless steel plates, the back is an aluminum composite board, and the innermost layer has a polyurethane foam board, so that this "clothes" are not only strong and beautiful, but also particularly warm. There are more than 1,100 curtain wall panels at the new Ross Sea station, which is not only a large number, but also requires very high installation accuracy because they are all modular production. Li Yueqiang, the person in charge of the curtain wall panel of the Ross Sea New Station Project of China Railway Construction Engineering Group, introduced: "The keel must be corrected to an error of less than 5 millimeters before the manual board can be installed. Because we keep the error very small, we can install 40 to 50 boards per day if possible. ”

Compared with the past, the construction of the Antarctic research station is now more high-tech, which not only saves the construction period, but also like 'building blocks'. Luo Huangxun, deputy production manager of the Ross Sea New Station Project of China Railway Construction Engineering Group, who participated in the construction of the Antarctic research station for the 11th time, said with emotion.

The builders behind the Antarctic research station.

The island of Enksburg, also known as the "Island of Silence", where the new station of the Ross Sea is located, is said to have been stranded by several explorers for an entire winter. Enksburg Island is located in the Antarctic Ross Sea Tranova Bay near about 164 degrees east longitude and 75 degrees south latitude.

During China's 34th Antarctic expedition from 2017 to 2018, China Railway Construction Engineering Group undertook the construction of temporary facilities for the new Ross Sea station. The builders of Enksburg Island staged a "wilderness survival", under the harsh climatic conditions, the construction of basic survival support facilities was carried out in one day, and more than 90% of the temporary facilities construction tasks were completed in more than 20 days of continuous construction, laying the foundation for the full start of the construction of the main project of the new station in the Ross Sea.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of China's polar expedition, and it is also the 20th time that China Railway Construction Engineering Group has participated in the construction of the Antarctic research station, and is currently carrying out China's 40th Antarctic expedition. The most prominent highlight of this expedition is the construction of China's fifth Antarctic research station, the new station in the Ross Sea. "The task of our trip is the infrastructure construction of the new station in Rossea, the construction of the main station, and the construction of the ground station of Zhongshan station and the commissioning and installation of equipment. This time, 94 team members of China Railway Construction Engineering Group went on the expedition, which is also the largest number of people participating in the construction of the station in the past years. Cao Tao, secretary and chief engineer of the Antarctic project of China Railway Construction Engineering Group, said.

On November 1, 2023, China's 40th Antarctic expedition departed from Shanghai for more than five months. After sailing into the deep sea, many expedition members ushered in the first huge test since going to sea - seasickness. Dizziness, nausea, and nausea, every bite of food is torment, and this feeling is even more intense when crossing the westerly wind. Despite seasickness, everyone still insisted on working, paid close attention to refining the project implementation plan, regularly carried out detailed inspections of machinery and equipment, building materials, etc., and discussed the existing construction plan over and over again.

On December 7, after more than a month of sailing, the "Snow Dragon 2" and "Tianhui" ships broke through the ice five times and broke through the ice area one after another, and came to the vicinity of Enksburg Island to carry out unloading operations and personnel landing work. The total amount of materials that need to be unloaded at the new station in Ross Sea is more than 500 pieces and nearly 9,300 tons, including steel components, curtain wall panels and other construction materials and daily necessities.

In order to improve efficiency and save physical strength as much as possible, the Antarctic builders of China Railway Construction Engineering Group stood in a row and relayed boxes of materials to form a "human conveyor belt". Although tired, everyone worked together and encouraged each other. No one in the team flinched, gritted their teeth and insisted, and took the initiative to ask Ying to go to the most tired position at both ends.

The hole in the Antarctic ozone layer and the sunlight reflected from the ice and snow surface caused a "double attack" on the team members. That's why it's important to have a "triple protection" when working outdoors – wearing sunscreen, a face mask and sunglasses. So, people who were originally familiar with each other may not recognize each other when they meet, and they have to wait for him to speak, and then suddenly say: It turned out to be you. Even with such close protection, it is still difficult to avoid getting tanned or even sunburned. When I met in the cafeteria during dinner, I often exclaimed: Why are you so tanned?

On Enksburg Island, the steel structure of the main building of the new station in the Ross Sea stands in the wind. On the last day of 2023, the strong winds that lasted for several days showed no signs of abating, and after breakfast, mechanic Hu Qing and his teammates braved the wind and came to the construction site of the new station. I'll help with the screws, the reinforcements, and some of the purlins. This is his ninth New Year's Eve in Antarctica, and years of experience have taught him to make the most of every hour of the construction window.

At the South Pole in summer, the sun hangs above the horizon all the time. The team members took advantage of the polar day to work overtime from 7 o'clock in the morning to 10 o'clock in the "night", refusing to waste a minute or a second of the work window. Hu Qing said: "This is Antarctica, and the weather is unpredictable. But if everyone twists into a rope, they will definitely be able to complete the construction task on schedule. ”

The Antarctic love of China Railway Construction workers.

The new station in Ross Sea is not the first time that China Railway Construction workers have been associated with the Antarctic expedition, and the Antarctic relationship of China Railway Construction workers has lasted for more than 20 years. Since 2002, China Railway Construction Engineering Group has been assigned to the Chinese Antarctic Expedition Team 20 times, and has participated in the construction and maintenance of the Great Wall Station, Zhongshan Station and Ross Sea New Station.

On February 26, 1989, the Chinese Antarctic expedition team built the first Chinese research station in the Antarctic Circle, Zhongshan Station, in East Antarctica in just one month, which is also China's second Antarctic research station after the Great Wall Station. It has a construction area of 1,600 square meters, which was completed and wintered in the same year. The old main building, like the old power building and the old meteorological observatory, is the first generation of the building of Zhongshan Station.

At that time, the construction of the research station was mainly a container-type house, which was used as a place for scientific research personnel to work and live, and the conditions were relatively difficult. When the builders of China Railway Construction Engineering Group first arrived in Antarctica, the old Zhongshan Station, which was assembled in simple containers, had endured more than ten years of wind and snow, and the facilities were seriously damaged and shabby. "It's almost summer, and the outside of our research station is still wrapped in ice, and it's distressing to look at it, I really don't know how they wintered. At that time, the builders of China Railway Construction Engineering Group were looking forward to one day building Zhongshan Station into the best Antarctic research station.

The first is the demolition of the old Zhongshan Station. In 2003, the old Zhongshan Station Living Building has been in service for 15 years, the foundation is weathered, the steel bars are exposed, and the roof is leaking. Under the leadership of the Antarctic expedition, the builders successfully completed the demolition of the living building within one month with limited tools. During this period, the builders also completed the demolition of the cultural and sports building of the Great Wall Station and the waste power generation building.

In 2007, the country officially launched the Antarctic "Tenth Five-Year Plan" capacity building and carried out a large-scale expansion of Zhongshan Station. In 2015, the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" capacity building of Zhongshan Station in Antarctica was successfully completed. During this period, the builders have successively built a comprehensive scientific research building, a comprehensive library, a garage, a high-altitude physical observation building, a waste treatment building, a sewage treatment building, a boiler room, a high-frequency radar room, a high-frequency radar room, a helipad, a satellite system, a main power generation building, a wintering dormitory building, a new energy microgrid system and other projects in the Lasman hills.

Later, the builders built a three-story comprehensive scientific research building, which not only has a special medical room, an operating room, but also a small screening hall, a gym and an indoor basketball hall. Later, China Railway Construction workers set up a 12-meter-diameter white "football" - Zhongshan Station Satellite System on Friendship Mountain at Zhongshan Station, realizing full-time data and Internet communication with China.

The old dormitory building used to be in difficult conditions, serving as both an office and a dormitory, and the desks were made of construction scraps. Later, in the new dormitory building, there was 24-hour fire safety monitoring equipment, and the staff on duty could notify all corners of Zhongshan Station through broadcasting; There are new floor heating equipment, and the indoor temperature is constant throughout the day; There are 24-hour hot water baths, which effectively relieve the physical fatigue caused by hard work to the scientific expedition members.

With the help of LED plant lighting, embedded greenhouse control system and other technologies, 60 kilograms of fresh vegetables and fruits per month were moved from the vegetable greenhouse to the table, and the expedition team members of Zhongshan Station initially realized "vegetable freedom".

From scientific research equipment to living facilities, from small ancillary buildings to large building units, from logistics maintenance to environmental management, China Railway Construction workers spent more than 20 years to transform and expand Zhongshan Station from a simple container iron house into a modern "science town" integrating scientific research, observation, life, environmental protection, medical treatment, entertainment and other functions, with a construction area of 8,500 square meters. Take the "Snow Dragon" polar research ship on board the ship *** from the air bird's-eye view of Zhongshan Station, a number of buildings with novel shape, bright colors, they are distributed in the Lasman Hills of the Antarctic continent, together constitute a well-equipped, technologically advanced, but also the largest scientific research base in the history of China's polar scientific expedition.

From Zhongshan Station to Ross Sea New Station, it has witnessed the iterative upgrading of the design and construction level of China's Antarctic research station, and created a new situation in the development of China's polar scientific expedition in the new era. With the hard work of the vast number of polar workers, China's polar scientific expedition will certainly make new and greater achievements for the benefit of mankind. (ENDS).

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