Xining, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- The "permafrost expert" guarding the highest-altitude railway tunnel of the Qinghai-Tibet line
Xinhua News Agency reporters Wang Hun and Wang Yan
The whirring cold wind blows from all around the mountains, and the small buildings in the Xiushui River line construction area under the wind volcano are particularly conspicuous in the vast snowfield. Before dawn, more than 20 linemen had already completed the whole team in the hospital, waiting for the roll call before the class.
Today's operation site is the Wind Volcano Tunnel, and the operation project is tunnel inspection, and the equipment diseases found in the early stage of the dynamic and static inspection of the lot are intensively renovated and ......Zhang Fuqiang, the foreman, stood on the steps of the dormitory in the work area, raised his hand and looked at his watch, and spoke very quickly to arrange the day's homework content and precautions.
Zhang Fuqiang's Xiushui River Line Work Area of the Golmud Public Works Section of the Qinghai-Tibet Group is mainly under the jurisdiction of the highest railway tunnel on the Qinghai-Tibet Line - the Wind Volcano Tunnel. The total length of the tunnel is 1,338 meters, the average altitude is 5,005 meters, the oxygen content here is only 40% of the plain area, the average annual temperature is minus 5, and the extreme temperature is minus 35.
Zhang Fuqiang (center) and his co-workers inspect the Wind Volcano Tunnel. (Provided by China Railway Qinghai-Tibet Group *** Golmud Public Works Section) Under the wind and snow, Zhang Fuqiang and his workers drove to the operation site. "The section of the Fengvolo Tunnel that we are responsible for maintenance is the section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway that is the most difficult to maintain, the worst natural conditions, and the most dangerous in terms of disasters. Zhang Fuqiang said that whether it is permafrost or water damage, almost all typical conservation problems on the Qinghai-Tibet line can be found in the Fenghuo Mountain section.
The most prominent problem is permafrost. Zhang Fuqiang said that the problem of permafrost is recognized as a difficult point in railway maintenance, frost heave in winter and thaw settlement in summer will make the railway subgrade undulating and unstable, which will affect the safety of driving, and even lead to train derailment in serious cases.
Zhang Fuqiang, who has been working in the front line of Qinghai-Tibet railway maintenance for 27 years, has made great efforts to deal with the "old rival" of frozen soil. In the five years he worked in the Xiushui River line construction area, he led the workers to regularly observe the changes of the roadbed, strengthen the static inspection of the line, collect temperature changes and line dynamic detection data, and conduct comparative analysis.
Subgrade changes, climate fluctuations, ......These factors are key to studying the effects of permafrost, and the slightest change can lead to different problems along the route. Zhang Fuqiang took out a notebook that was about to be turned over, and while noting down the climate and line data of this maintenance, he and his workers walked to the depths of the tunnel.
The Wind Volcano Tunnel is tall and long, and the deeper you go into the tunnel, the thinner the oxygen in the tunnel becomes.
Time is the most precious thing when working in the Wind Volcano Tunnel, on the one hand, because the time of the 'skylight' is limited, and on the other hand, the body is too uncomfortable. Before he finished speaking, Zhang Fuqiang began to gasp for breath.
During the two-and-a-half-hour operation, Zhang Fuqiang and his co-workers rarely spoke, and in the harsh environment, they had established a tacit understanding of eye and eye contact.
The sun had risen high, the maintenance workers had completed the maintenance work ahead of schedule, and the workers were ready to withdraw from the operation site, while Zhang Fuqiang took advantage of the gap in the retreat to lie on the railroad tracks to measure and paint, a habit he had developed over the years. During each inspection, in order to more intuitively check the impact of frozen soil on the rails, he has to bend down to measure and inspect the roadbed and track every 50 meters or so. "The impact of permafrost on the line is sometimes subtle and you can't see it until you lie down. Zhang Fuqiang said.
Zhang Fuqiang lay on the railroad tracks to check the situation of the line. In the five years that the wind volcano has been sticking to it, Zhang Fuqiang has to inspect and measure nearly 10 kilometers of the line on foot every day to grasp the law of permafrost changes. Under his leadership, the employees of the Xiushui River Line Workshop have completed the observation and recording of nearly 20,000 pieces of various data in the Fenghuo Mountain Section, and summarized the work essentials of "winter freeze prevention, rain prevention and sinking" and "permafrost subgrade settlement comparison analysis method" and "frozen soil line settlement suspension rope detection and remediation method" according to the law and characteristics of permafrost tunnel permafrost change.
These "local methods" summed up by Zhang Fuqiang and his co-workers will play a "big role" in practical work. "We find the pattern of permafrost changes, and then find a way to use the materials and tools at hand to maintain the changes, so that we can ensure that the line is safe and reliable. Zhang Fuqiang said.
Thanks to the efforts of Zhang Fuqiang and his colleagues, the railway equipment in the Fengshan Tunnel section has never had any safety accidents in the 18 years since the opening of the Gela section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.
Back on the engineering truck, Zhang Fuqiang and his co-workers opened the valve of the oxygen cylinder and plugged in the oxygen tube to inhale oxygen. In the distance, in the tunnel, a whistle sounded, and a train full of goods drove quickly and steadily off the line they had just maintained.