What difficulties did Zhan Tianyou encounter when building the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway? How did he overcome it?

Zhan Tianyou is an outstanding patriotic engineer in China. Under his auspices, the railway from Beijing to Zhangjiakou was successfully built for the first time. This is the first railway trunk line designed and built entirely by China engineers and technicians.

The railway from Beijing to Zhangjiakou is 200 kilometers long and is the main road connecting North China and Northwest China. At that time, as soon as the Qing government put forward the construction plan, some imperialist countries came out to obstruct it. They all want to fight for the right to build this railway and further control the northern part of China. The imperialists refused to let people go, and the matter dragged on for a long time They finally put forward a condition: if the Qing government used their own engineers to build the railway, they would stop asking. They thought that with such a threat, the railway could not be started, and finally they had to turn to them for help. The imperialists are completely wrong. China had its own engineers at that time, and Zhan Tianyou was one of them.

1905, the Qing government appointed Zhan Tianyou as the chief engineer to build the Beijing-Zhangjiakou railway. As soon as the news came out, the whole country made a sensation. Everyone says they can win a sigh of relief this time. The imperialists think this is a joke. A foreign newspaper said contemptuously, "China engineers who can build a railway north of Nankou have not yet been born." It turns out that from Nankou North to Juyongguan and then to Badaling, all the way.

Not afraid of difficulties and ridicule, Zhan Tianyou resolutely accepted the task and immediately began to survey the line. Where to cut mountains, where to build bridges, where to level steep slopes and where to reduce curvature, we must survey and calculate carefully. Zhan Tianyou often encourages the staff to say, "Our work must be accurate first, and we can't be a little sloppy. Probably' and' almost' should not come from the mouth of engineers. " He carried a theodolite, fixed points on the cliff, surveying and mapping. The Great Wall is often full of wind and yellow sand. If he is not careful, he is in danger of falling into a deep valley. No matter how bad the conditions are, Zhan Tianyou always insists on working in the fields. During the day, he climbed the mountain to survey the route, and at night, he painted and calculated under the oil lamp. In order to find a suitable route, he often consults local farmers. When encountering difficulties, he always thinks: This is China. Otherwise, it will not only make foreigners laugh, but also make engineers in China lose confidence.

The railway has to pass through many high mountains, and tunnels have to be dug, among which Juyongguan and Badaling tunnels are the most difficult. Juyongguan Mountain is high and thick, so Zhan Tianyou decided to dig from both ends to the middle at the same time. The spring water at the top of the mountain seeped downward, and the tunnel was full of mud. There was no water pump on the construction site, so Zhan Tianyou took the lead in carrying buckets to drain water. He often eats and lives with the workers. Don't leave the site. Badaling Tunnel is over 1 100 meters long, which is three times as long as Juyongguan Tunnel. He discussed with the old workers and decided to adopt the intermediate sinking method. First, a shaft was drilled from the top of the mountain, then both ends were dug separately, and both ends were constructed at the same time, which shortened the construction period by half.

The railway passes near Qinglong Bridge, and the slope is particularly steep. How can a train climb such a steep slope? Zhan Tianyou designed a herringbone line along the mountain. When the northbound train arrived at the south exit, two locomotives were used, one pulling in front and the other pushing behind. After crossing the Qinglong Bridge, the train moved northeast, crossed the fork of the herringbone line and drove in the opposite direction. The original locomotive was pulled and pushed, making the train turn to the northwest. In this way, it is much easier for the train to go up the hill.

The railway was completed in less than four years, two years ahead of schedule. This incident gave a powerful counterattack to the imperialists who despised China. Today, we went to Badaling by train and passed Qinglong Bridge Station. We can see a bronze statue, which is Zhan Tianyou. Many foreign guests visiting China are amazed at the great project left by Zhan Tianyou.

In this text, I talked about the difficulties encountered by Zhan Tianyou and how to overcome them.