China's first highland railway, the Xining-Golmud Section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, with the elevation mostly above 3,000 meters, is 846 kilometer long. The construction of the entire railway section started in 1958 and was opened in May 1984.
However, the Golmud-Lhasa Section, totaling 1,118 kilometers, has a 965-kilometer section with an elevation above 4,000 meters and a 550-kilometer section featuring permafrost. The Central Government decided in late 2000 to start the railway construction.
n April 2nd, 2000. GSP technology was used to survey the route of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. Senior engineer Jin Lixin explained the technology was very useful at high altitude with insufficient oxygen. Its comprehensive effectiveness was twice as effective as the existing domestic most advanced measuring instrument.
After the surveyors finished the task of establishing the route of the 18-kilometer section from Yeniugou to Datan in four days, they also used the technology to re-check other route sections that had been previously surveyed in line with the precise specifications stipulated by the Ministry of Railway.
By June 2002, the Archives of the Tibet Autonomous Region had provided for the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Project Construction, the (Project on) the Impact of Permafrost on Railway Construction and other scientific research subjects, free of charge, with more than 200,000 groups of data on weather changes and abundant reports on climate analysis, including the annual average temperature, annual precipitation, permafrost, wind velocity and other weather factors at Amdo, Nagqu, Damxung, Lhasa and other observation stations along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.
Due to thin oxygen in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the mechanical performance of construction equipment was reduced, especially as the temperature of lubricant rose.
To solve these problems, the purchase of quality equipment became necessary. Also important was working out a management and standardized production maintenance system. This research program is expected to improve the operational efficiency of construction equipment, lower engineering costs and ensure the project is completed on schedule.
In the early morning of June 12th, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway crossed Qingshuihe Bridge at 4,600 meters and headed for the southern tip of the Hoh Xil wilderness.
Qingshuihe Bridge, 11.7 kilometer long, is one of the longest Bridge-substitute-Road Projectsof the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. Bridge-substitute-Roadis mainly used to solve the roadbed stability problem in the permafrost area of the plateau. The 1,300 bridge holes between the piers allow free migration of Tibetan antelopes and other wild animals.
The permafrost posed serious problems for construction. Early in the 1960s, China started researching the five permafrost areas including the Kunlun Mountain tunnel, the Fenghuoshan Mountain tunnel and the Qingshuihe, and another 39 subjects concerning the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. The scientific research made on the roadbed, bridges, culverts, tunnels was successfully concluded.
If possible, the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway should try to avoid the permafrost area and the use of the substitute road with bridge method. Insulation layers are being used to improve the stability of the roadbed where necessary.
Permafrost Experimentation
The State Lab of the Permafrost Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has accomplished the construction of the Beiluhe Experimentation Station.
Accommodating 20-25 researchers, this provides important experimental conditions for further studying the stability of the permafrost, monitoring its active layers, and surveying the permafrost environment and eco-environment along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway to ensure high-quality construction.
Earthquake Zone
On November 14th, 2001, an earthquake measuring 8.1 on the Richter Scale occurred in the Kunlun Mountain area resulting in a 3-5 meter wide and 400-kilometer long fissure. To reduce the impact of earthquakes, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway seeks to bypass any known fault lines if possible and adopts special construction techniques where this is not possible.
The Qinghai-Tibet Railway has successfully spanned the earthquake-prone region and reached the Kunlun Mountain Mouth, with the elevation 4,700 meters. The Qinghai-Tibet Railway has been extended by 150 kilometers up to now.
Oxygen Producing Devices
The Fenghuoshan Mountain tunnel in the midst of the Kunlun Mountain-Tanggula Mountain area has an elevation of 5,010 meter, and the oxygen content of the air is only 50 percent of low-lying areas. The weather there changes violently and the difference in temperature can often reach 50 Celsius.
Liu Yingshu, professor of Heat Energy Department of Beijing Science and Technology University, invented an innovated oxygen producing technique, which is being used successfully in the construction of Fenghuoshan Mountain tunnel, the world's highest.
He created a new technique of supplying oxygen, i.e. by an oxygen bar vehicle, which allows the workers at the construction site to breathe oxygen at any time. The density of the oxygen produced by this technique is over 92 percent, fully meeting medical requirements. The construction workers have freed themselves from the need to carry cumbersome oxygen bottles and the engineering progress is three times faster than before.
Taking a train with oxygen producing device to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is expected to come true in the near future.
Diesel Locomotive
On January 17th, 2003, the trial diesel locomotive especially designed and developed in China carried out its first pilot-run at Wangkun Railway Station with an elevation of 4,500 meters.
The Qinghai-Tibet Railway is located in the hinterland of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, featuring high elevation, low air pressure, thin oxygen, severe cold, significant temperature changes, strong sandstorms, steep cliffs, etc., which makes severe demands on locomotives, especially diesels. This diesel locomotive was developed on the basis of the Dongfeng motor vehicle Model 8B, which is currently the most powerful, advanced and reliable single unit.
According the characteristics of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, this locomotive has been improved in 12 aspects, such as the power of its diesel engine and its start-up performance, the braking system, anti-cold capability and reliability, oxygen supply, the prevention of ultraviolet radiation, etc.
Cold Plateau Diesel Motor Vehicle
The world first Cold Plateau Diesel Motor Vehicle was successfully manufactured in Qingdao on March 6th. This vehicle is able to run normally at very low temperatures and with insufficient oxygen.
The Cold Plateau Diesel Motor Vehicle adopts special anti-low-temperature material and is equipped with plateau oxygen supply system that can help passengers to overcome plateau reaction. In order to protect the fragile eco-environment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, all the wastewater and rubbish of the vehicle are centrally collected for treatment. To overcome the impact of sandstorms, lightning, ultraviolet radiation, etc. on the motor vehicle, an air intake system that can prevent penetration by snow and sand is also designed. Its electrical parts have reliable insulating capability and are capable of withstanding a lightning strike; all the non-electrical parts are protected from ultraviolet radiation.
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