Tibet train runs safely into winter
By Xin Dingding (China Daily)Updated: 2006-12-06 08:56
The Northwest Research Institute is based in Lanzhou, in Northwest China's
Gansu Province. The institute is the only organization in the railway system
that studies permafrost on the plateau.
Before this year, observation
teams surveyed the tracks three times a day, even when temperatures dipped to
-30 C, he said.
At present, teams still check for subsidence and
deformities in the rail bed.
"There are more than 70 monitoring teams
along the line who work together to inspect the rails sitting on permafrost
every 15 days," he said.
The Northwest Research Institute has been
gathering data about permafrost conditions on the Fenghuo Mountain for the past
45 years, providing statistics for the design and construction of the
Qinghai-Tibet Railway.
"The Qinghai-Tibet Railway has many measures in
place to protect the frozen ground," he said.
For example, engineers have
used stone slabs to build embankments that cool without breaking up. They have
also thrust steel tubes into the ground along some parts of the route to
transmit heat from beneath the icy surface.
Bridges were built where the
permafrost was unstable to minimize the railway's influence on the
environment.
 | 1 | 2 |
(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
| ||