Nine News.
On February 4, rare rain, snow and freezing weather swept across Hubei Province, and the temperature dropped to minus 2. At about 16 o'clock on the same day, snowflakes were drifting on the Yangtze River Bridge in Tianxingzhou, Wuhan, and the trenches on both sides of the line had formed a thick layer of ice. At this time, on the lower railway of Tianxingzhou Bridge, more than 20 staff members are carrying out catenary de-icing work in an orderly manner.
Crews are de-icing catenary. Source: Courtesy of the interviewee.
Recently, the upper highway of Tianxingzhou Bridge has cleared the snow on the road through salting, and the snow water that seeped into the lower railway has caused serious icing of the railway catenary equipment in the Tianxingzhou section, and the Tianxingzhou Bridge as the throat section of the main artery of the Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed railway, has caused great interference to the transportation order of the Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed railway.
Zhu Xiangli is the chief engineer of the Wuhan power supply section of China Railway Wuhan Bureau Group, he told Jiupai News that at present, most trains need to rely on electricity to run, and each car has an upward extension device - "pantograph", and the pantograph needs to be connected with the catenary to supply power to the train.
Under the influence of freezing rain, both the pantograph and the catenary are frozen, which will affect the traction and braking performance of the train, which may increase the running time of the train and increase the risk of train delays", he said, in the case of both the pantograph and the catenary are frozen, due to the ice barrier, the pantograph and the line are in poor contact to produce an arc, and there will be a fire on the top of the train.
Before the official start, 20 catenary workers in the Wuhan power supply section were waiting on the Tianxingzhou Bridge early. "When each team plays on the ice, they must move cleanly and neatly, and they will go down the road immediately after the end. Before the operation, Ding Zhe, director of the Wuhan passenger power supply workshop, picked up the walkie-talkie again and reminded him.
Ding Zhe told reporters that the "skylight point" time this time is only 15 minutes, "the line is busy during the Spring Festival, and the operation time given to us is very limited, so we can only stand by at the operation site in advance and rush to hit the ice." ”
Crews are de-icing catenary. Source: Courtesy of the interviewee.
At 16:15, the line was blocked, and the "skylight" time arrived. Under Ding Zhe's instructions, the workers put on insulated gloves, put on insulated boots, held ice sticks, quickly boarded the line, and smashed the icicles accurately with the ice sticks. At the scene, the sound of the ice pole hitting the ice, the ice falling and the slogan of the de-icing personnel hitting the pole echoed on the bridge.
Zhu Zhili told reporters that the ice pole used by the workers is 6 meters long, weighs more than 10 pounds, and is expected to be waved at least 60 times per minute, "the catenary has a high pressure of 25,000 volts, and the workers have practiced this hand through countless simulation exercises." ”
He also said that the ice seems simple, but it is a combination of physical strength and skill work, the strength is not thorough, the slightest carelessness may be injured by the falling ice or splashed ice slag, so the catenary workers need to wear safety helmets in the operation.
After 15 minutes, the ice operation ended on time. "In extreme weather, everyone must be ready for emergencies at any time, which is nothing, and we are happier to ensure that more people can go home safely. One of the staff members said with a smile.
Nine News.
Reporter: Zeng Yiting
Correspondent: Chen Zhe.
Editor: Song Weiqi.