Damage to the Changyuan River Bridge on the Nantongpu Railway, photographed on October 8.
On October 6, due to heavy rainfall, the water level of the Changyuan River in Qi County, Shanxi Province, rose, and the flood washed away the roadbed, causing the ChangyuanHe Bridge railway of the South Tongpu Railway to be suspended, the railway to stop running, and many trains to be delayed or stopped. The Nantongpu Railway is an important passenger and freight railway corridor in southern Shanxi. After the dangerous situation occurred, China Railway Taiyuan Bureau Group Co., Ltd. and Jinzhong Local Government made every effort to organize emergency repairs.
On the evening of the 7th, two TELEVISION reporters from the Shanxi Branch of xinhua news agency and I rushed to the scene of the rush repair of the Changyuanhe Bridge of the South Tongpu Railway overnight, and it was about 00:00 a.m. on the 8th when we arrived. Rescue vehicles lined up along both sides of the road with long snakes, the river rushed, and the scene of emergency repair was tense and busy. Due to the complex site environment, emergency repair is mainly based on mechanical operations. The pieces of stone were transported to the bridge head by rescue trains one after another, thrown into the bottom of the collapsed roadbed, and large machinery threw pieces of stone and stone cages into the river to block the flood from impacting the roadbed, and the work of opening another flood channel was also carried out simultaneously.
At about 00:00 a.m. on October 8, the scene of the emergency repair of the Changyuan River Bridge of the Nantongpu Railway was photographed.
From October 2 to October 6, the precipitation in Qi County, Shanxi Province, reached 188.3 mm, and the average daily and daily maximum precipitation was close to the historical peak. Rainfall is accompanied by cooling, with temperatures less than 10 degrees Celsius at night. Some temporary rest workers directly put themselves in woven bags and took a nap in the cold wind and cold rain. Ni Wei, an employee of the Sixth Bureau of China Railway, who organized the throwing of stones to fill the roadbed, arrived at the scene a few hours after the dangerous situation and fought for 30 hours before resting for the first time.
The scene of the emergency repair of the ChangyuanHe Bridge of the Nantongpu Railway taken on October 8.
The rescue scene of the Changyuan River Bridge of the Nantongpu Railway taken on October 8.
From the ground to the bridge, there is only a few meters high slope to pass, and I keep going up and down, looking for a suitable shooting point. This steep slope, which originally had no road, has long been stepped out of the place where the repair team has landed. Although muddy and slippery, it was their runway against the flood.
The rescue scene of the Changyuan River Bridge of the South Tongpu Railway taken at 18:00 on October 8.
As floods continue to wash away the collapse of the adjacent railway bridge, on-site repair operations must be carried out with caution. The rescue team of more than 1,500 people fought day and night, using more than 160 loaders, excavators, cranes and other machinery, grabbing and unloading more than 100 vehicles such as backfill stones, ballasts, and waste sleepers, and doing everything possible to rush through the line. At 21:20 on October 8, after continuous fighting, the embankment at the end of the bridge platform that had been washed away on the upward line of the Changyuanhe Railway Bridge was repaired and the line was reopened to traffic.
On the night of October 8, the train crossed the ChangyuanHe Bridge of the South Tongpu Railway.
When the "Harmony" train roared by, the construction workers at the scene picked up their mobile phones to take pictures. Three days and two nights of waiting, just for the safe passage of the train.
On October 8, construction workers set off fireworks to celebrate after the construction of the Changyuanhe Bridge of the South Tongpu Railway.
At present, the rush to open the downward line of the Changyuanhe Railway Bridge is still in progress.
What the flood cannot break is the strength of the will of the people. I'm thankful that my footage recorded it all.
Planner: Liu Jie, Lan Hongguang
Coordinator: Fei Maohua, Zhou Daqing
Reporter: Yang Chenguang
Source: Xinhua News Agency