Background of Zhan Tianyou Railway Construction

1905, Zhan Tianyou was appointed to preside over the construction of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, first as the General Affairs Department and the General Office, and then promoted to the General Office and the General Affairs Department. The Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway runs from Beijing to Zhangjiakou, about 200 kilometers long, and is located on the main road leading to the northwest. Because Britain and Russia competed for the right to build, the Qing government decided to build and manage it by itself. The Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway runs through Jundu Mountains, and the project is extremely arduous. Foreigners talk about China's inability to complete such a dangerous project, and scoff at Zhan Tianyou. In the face of foreign sarcasm, Zhan Tianyou, with a fearless spirit, led all construction workers to face difficulties and win glory for our country.

At the beginning of construction, there was a shortage of engineers and technicians. Zhan Tianyou led only two graduates from Shanhaiguan Railway School to make a detailed survey of the whole road. The Great Wall is often full of strong winds and sandstorms. Zhan Tianyou risked being caught in a ravine by the strong wind, and together with the engineers, he carried a post and a theodolite to draw at a fixed point on the cliff. In order to find the ideal road route, he often rides a little donkey on the rugged mountain road. Climb mountains during the day and bend over to draw and calculate under foreign oil lamps at night. Then I put forward the construction method and recruited the only engineering and technical personnel in China to repair this road. He made a policy that the road should be completed as soon as possible, so that when it is completed as soon as possible, he can free up his hands to support the railways operated by other provinces.

The most difficult project of Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway is Badaling Tunnel Project. In order to ensure the completion of the railway ahead of schedule, Zhan Tianyou decided to adopt the method of subsection construction. In order to ensure the construction quality of the tunnel, Zhan Tianyou ate and lived at the scene, and personally checked the alignment, positioning and even diameter and distance of each hole. The staff is infected. I hope he will take care of himself and have more rest. Zhan Tianyou said seriously: "The eyes of the whole world are watching us, and we must succeed!"

When digging two tunnels, Juyongguan and Badaling, Zhan Tianyou creatively adopted the construction method of digging at both ends and opening a shaft in the middle, without the difficulties of opening a new mountain knife, water pump and ventilator, and successfully solved the problem. In his work, he creatively applied the principle of "turn-back line" and built a section of herringbone line on Qinglong Bridge with steep mountain slope, which reduced the slope of the line in Guangou to below 3.3% and shortened the length of Badaling tunnel to half of the design scheme.

Zhan Tianyou also designed many magnificent stone arch bridges with national characteristics according to the characteristics of road construction in mountainous areas, which not only saved steel, but also greatly reduced the project cost, and realized his three requirements of "less money, good quality and quick completion". 1909, the third section of Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway was completed, which lasted four years, two years ahead of schedule, saving investment of more than 282,000 silver, which was regarded as a miracle by foreign engineers at that time.