At an altitude of 5,000 meters, the top of the sky road meets the "wind and snow warehouse"

Source: Workers Daily

At an altitude of 5,000 meters, the top of the sky road meets the "wind and snow warehouse"

Reporter Xing Shengxiang This newspaper correspondent Quan Cuifang Gui Lianxin

February 5, the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. Early in the morning, the sky in Tanggula was overcast, and the wind mixed with snow particles was everywhere.

At 9:30 a.m., Wang Changming, foreman of the Tanggula Line Workshop of the Golmud Engineering Section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, led 11 workers and laborers to the Tanggula-Tanggula South section at an altitude of 5,000 meters, waiting for the "skylight" order.

Tanggula, meaning "a high mountain that eagles can't fly over", its cross-ridge section is the most harsh natural environment section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. "The wind blows stones to run, oxygen is not enough, wear cotton jackets in all seasons", hail, strong winds, severe lack of oxygen... Tanggula Mountain is a veritable "wind and snow warehouse".

Tanggula Line Workshop, located at the commanding heights of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, governs the 125-kilometer railway line in the foothills of the Tanggula Mountains of the Qinghai-Tibet Line, where the average altitude is 4890 meters, the air oxygen content is only 50% of the plain area, the annual average temperature is minus 5 degrees Celsius, the minimum temperature is minus 40 degrees Celsius, the surface is covered with ice and snow all year round, the climate change is unpredictable, and the railway roadbed is all erected on the perennial frozen soil.

"Everyone should hurry up and check the work tools on the upper road, and today the upper road needs a ruler, a tamping machine, and two road starters..." Due to the loud roar of the wind and snow, Wang Changming could only barely hear his voice by shouting the names of the tools and supplies on the dispatch work order.

At 10:05, the maintenance operation "skylight" order was issued, with the operation leader Wang Changming's order, the operators worked together to lift the tamping machine, the road starter, the dialer and other work tools, towards the 10-meter-high roadbed. "When the snow is falling, everyone must step on it steadily." Wang Changming carried the road maintenance machine with everyone while loudly instructing.

"There are 9 months of winter in the Tanggula area a year, the temperature is unusually cold, we in order to ensure the use of road maintenance machinery, actively use the limited 'skylight', each time before arriving at the site, will preheat all machinery in advance, to prevent the starter and dialer hydraulic oil solidification, to ensure the normal use of maintenance machinery." Xu Fei, an engineer at the Tanggula line workshop, said.

"The disease on this line is a bit complicated, and this place has to be pried again." Wang Changming shouted loudly to the operator of the lifter, while kneeling on the cold and bone-chilling rail, staring at the jaw line of the head of the rail.

At 13:20, at the Boomer Station at an altitude of 4870 meters, Ma Yubao, the foreman of the Yanshiping Line Construction Area of the Tanggula Line Workshop, was also carrying out turnout maintenance operations, and the on-site tamping machine roared, he took off his gloves, rubbed his frozen fingers, and from time to time leaned down on the rails to look carefully.

"Tanggula's wind is pervasive, the wind speed is particularly large, wearing a thick cotton coat will also blow you through the heart, especially when lying on the rail to check the direction of the rail, blowing on the back is a bone-chilling pain." Ma Yubao said while directing the starter operation while slapping the snow on his body.

Since entering the Spring Festival, the Tanggula line workshop has actively overcome the harsh natural environment of alpine cold and lack of oxygen in combination with the conditions of the line, equipment and weather, organized the staff to carry out equipment inspection and repair under ice and snow weather and emergency preparations for track breaking and ice removal, and escorted the safety of the Spring Festival with excellent line equipment quality. Up to now, they have handled more than 40 diseases under their jurisdiction, replaced 1 seriously injured rail, and carried out ice and snow removal 3 times.