Building Roads and Bridges for the Third Front Construction

This book is like a symphony， which integrates the history of the growth of craftsmen in a great country， the history of Sichuan road and bridge coustruction， and the history of the changes of the times. It is a vivid interpretation of the meticulous and touching heartstrings.

Li Wenqi

Li Wenqi has a master’s degree in engineering and is a professor-level senior engineer. He is an expert who enjoys the special government allowance of the State Council， was a model worker in the national transportation system in 1991， 1992， and 1993， and is a key contact expert of the Sichuan Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government.

The current distance from Ya’an to Panzhihua （then called Dukou） by highway is 505 kilometers， but at that time， the total distance from Chengdu to Panzhihua was over 823 kilometers （according to the current National Route 108）. Driving through the Niba Mountain uninhabited area （which was then covered in primitive forest with no inhabitants）， the eastern side of the mountain was shrouded in rain and mist every day， making the roads slippery and difficult to navigate. In contrast， the western side was dry and rainless， with narrow and steep roads where many sections could only accommodate single-lane traffic. Crossing the more than 3，000-meter-high Tuowu Mountain， snow began to fall in October and lasted until March of the following year， blocking the roads with heavy snowfall， making travel extremely arduous. The Shimian segment of the highway was carved into the sheer cliffs hundreds of meters above the Dadu River， and standing at the roadside and looking down at the surging waves of the river would make any normal person feel dizzy with fear. Most sections were so narrow that only one vehicle could pass at a time. Driving on such rugged and treacherous roads was akin to climbing to the heavens; any lapse in concentration could send a vehicle tumbling down a cliff， resulting in destruction and loss of life. Accidents were frequent， and it took five to seven days to complete the entire journey. During the War of Resistance Against Japan， to transport international aid materials and to open up the route through the Yunnan-Burma Road to Chengdu and Chongqing， 170，000 people from Sichuan and Yunnan provinces were mobilized to build the Leshan-Xichang Highway. Today， the state has invested hundreds of thousands of workers to develop the Panzhihua Steel City， with most equipment and materials transported from Chengdu via this road. The government arranged for each province （or municipality） across the country to dispatch 150 Jiefang brand trucks to form a motorcade， along with military vehicle convoys and several truck teams from Sichuan Province. Tens of thousands of Jiefang trucks traveled daily along this over 800-kilometer road， filled with thousands of road construction workers， navigating the rugged terrain （upgrading a Class IV road to a Class III road） from Chengdu to Panzhihua and back， transporting construction materials day and night without rest. It is hard to imagine the hardships of the working conditions and driving conditions at that time without experiencing them firsthand. I was fortunate to be a part of this road construction army， participating in the reconstruction projects of various large， medium， and small bridges along the route.

In 1965， the only bridge on the Sichuan-Xizang Highway （now National Route 318） over the Qingyi River in Ya’an was the Qiangjiang Bridge， built by the Sichuan Transportation Engineering Bureau （led by team captain Hu Zhenxian）. This bridge was completed and opened to traffic on July 1， 1954. It measures 226.6 meters in length， with 8 spans. At that time， it adopted the recommendations of Soviet experts， particularly consultant Belyaev Poladov， to increase the main span to 50 meters and add steel hanging beams. The main span was expanded to 50 meters， with each end featuring a 10-meter cantilevered beam， and a 31-meter-long steel plate hanging beam was added to reduce the difficulty of constructing deep water foundations for the main piers in the Qiangjiang River. The bridge is 10 meters wide， with flowerbeds at both ends. By 1965， after 11 years of operation， the simple steel support beams required replacement as per standard maintenance procedures. The Fourth Engineering Team took on the major repair task， which involved replacing the steel hanging beam supports and resurfacing the bridge deck. This work was categorized as maintenance and reinforcement. Nowadays， such projects can be handled with just 20 to 30 workers， and traffic does not need to be interrupted for replacing steel supports and re-paving the bridge deck. However， in that era， it was considered a high-difficulty project. First， traffic on the main bridge had to be halted， and a military Bailey bridge had to be erected as a temporary two-lane vehicle bridge over the rocky， swiftly flowing Qingyi River. The Sichuan-Xizang Highway was redirected to pass through this temporary bridge. Then， the simple steel support hanging beam was raised to perform maintenance and replace the supports of the main bridge， followed by re-paving the concrete surface and reconstructing the bridge deck structures.

Erecting a Bailey bridge with a main span of 40 meters and a width of 6 meters was a technically challenging project at that time. First， temporary bridge piers made of cobblestone cages had to be installed in the turbulent waters of the Qingyi River. Wooden towers were constructed on both banks， and a cable-operated hoist was installed on the tower. On one bank， the Bailey beams were assembled， while on the other bank， a traction winch was set up to slowly pull the Bailey beams across to the opposite bank. The hoist’s cable was used to support the end of the Bailey beam， preventing it from becoming unstable due to excessive cantilevering during the crossing process. Once the Bailey beams were in place， wooden panels were laid for the vehicle lane， successfully completing the two-lane temporary bridge， which took over the river traffic. After that， traffic on the main bridge was again interrupted for maintenance of the hanging holes and the bridge deck， with reinforcement work lasting four months.

With China’s rapid development in recent decades， the Qiangjiang Bridge in Ya’an no longer met the needs of modern transportation. It was demolished by blasting on March 10， 2004， after 50 years of use， which was in line with the design specifications for bridges at that time.

About 3 kilometers from the Qiangjiang Bridge， on a tributary of the Qingyi River called the Zhougong River， there was a wooden truss bridge （Ugga-style， an old type of wooden truss beam） with two spans of 15 meters and a width of 4.5 meters， known as the Jiang Bridge. The upper structure needed to be rebuilt into a 9-meter-wide concrete T-beam bridge， a project also undertaken by the Fourth Engineering Team. A portion of the staff I led， who had relocated from the Xuhao Bridge construction site in Leshan， was assigned to this project. The management personnel lived in a small courtyard provided by the road maintenance team， a brick and tile house with decent living conditions. In the era of bridge construction， such a small micro-construction site would typically have nearly a hundred employees， including teams for concrete work， rebar （electric welding）， carpentry， and hoisting， along with personnel for materials， technical work （measuring and testing）， administration （offices）， and medical personnel.

The Jiang Bridge， over 30 meters long， was a crucial route from Chengdu to Panzhihua and the only bridge for transporting all materials to develop the Panzhihua steel base. The bridge reconstruction had to be carried out without interrupting traffic， making it a heavy responsibility with significant challenges. Young and inexperienced， I was unaware of what real difficulties entailed. Alongside most of my peers， who were freshly recruited from rural areas as “contract workers，” and a few older workers from the Sichuan-Xizang Highway （from Ya’an in Xikang to Lhasa in Xizang， once called Xikang-Xizang Highway， renamed Sichuan-Xizang Highway after the revocation of Xikang Province in 1955） project， we quickly built a temporary bridge composed of cobblestone cages and steel main beams in the Zhougong River， completing the traffic diversion task before beginning the demolition of the wooden truss bridge.

The stone bridge piers of the Fenjiang Bridge rose about ten meters， with their foundations built on exposed bedrock. The water depth was less than one meter， so wooden horse benches were placed on the water surface， and wooden planks were laid to create a temporary bridge for dismantling the old bridge. The Ugga-style wooden truss components typically had a cross-section of 20×25 centimeters and were three to four meters long， with each beam weighing between 150 and 200 kilograms. After being removed， each beam was generally carried by two workers from the temporary bridge to the shore. The new team leader of the carpentry crew， Jiang Xingmo， was about my age but managed to effortlessly carry a large wooden beam back and forth across the temporary bridge. This caught my attention， and we quickly became good friends. Jiang， whom I later habitually referred to as “Jiang the carpenter，” was strong and robust， with immense physical strength. He was honest and straightforward， but his intelligence was remarkable. His skills in fine carpentry were top-notch. When I handed him the construction design drawings for the concrete T-beams， he quickly sketched out the template design， saving us technical staff a significant amount of effort in drawing the detailed construction plans. 1965 was a year that emphasized engineering quality. The concrete T-beam bridge became the main type of bridge used in the reconstruction projects along the 800-kilometer route. The Provincial Highway Engineering Bureau placed a high priority on the quality of T-beam prefabrication and decided to hold a competition across the bureau to promote engineering quality. Most of the members in Jiang’s carpentry crew came from rural areas in Nanchong， Sichuan， where they had all worked in carpentry， ensuring their skills were exceptional. As we began making the prefabricated T-beams， Jiang and I carefully studied techniques for creating the templates. We first built a test template for a two-meter-long beam with cross partitions， conducting repeated experiments to perfect the design to prevent concrete leakage and to control the timing of vibration after pouring the concrete. At that time， we had started using attached concrete vibrators and concrete mixers. Through experimentation， we effectively solved the problems of over-vibration and inadequate compaction of the concrete. Each time we poured concrete， I personally whistled to coordinate the timing of filling the molds and starting the concrete vibrator. After evaluation by the entire engineering bureau， our T-beam concrete quality was rated the best in the entire line. The engineering bureau held a field meeting at our construction site to learn from our prefabrication experience and promote it across the whole line. I tasted the sweet rewards of ensuring high-quality bridge engineering through collaboration with the workers. The project progressed smoothly， and ten T-beams were prefabricated. The reconstruction of the bridge piers and abutments was also completed， and the hoisting team set up wooden towers on both banks to install cable antennas in preparation for lifting the T-beams into place.

Since leaving the Changshou construction site， Wen Zhenglie had followed the team to work on internal project documentation. He frequently traveled between the site and the Chengdu office to deliver engineering documents and reports， resulting in less direct contact between us. However， as classmates， we maintained a strong relationship. Along with Liu Yulong and a few other foremen， we formed a supportive team that would share meals and help each other out， bringing vibrancy to our otherwise monotonous life at the construction site. One day， Wen returned from Chengdu with two rare pairs of nylon socks and a letter from the girl at the design institute， which she had asked him to deliver. Before I finished reading the letter， tears streamed down my face. The girl wrote that， due to family opposition， she could not be with me; she had found a boyfriend and urged me to take care of myself and cherish my future. She assured me that I would always be like an older brother to her. （At this point in my writing， I suddenly received a phone call from her husband： after years of battling illness， she had passed away in April 2015 at the age of 72. A friendship that had lasted over fifty years came to a close with her life， which had been quiet and uneventful. I felt a heavy sadness as I notified our mutual classmates. Those who received the news sent condolences or called to express their grief， and the sincere camaraderie among classmates was truly touching.）

I fell ill， lying in bed with a high fever and not eating or drinking for two days. On the third day， as I woke from a stupor， I noticed a beautiful girl sitting beside my bed， feeding me water. She was Long， a 17-year-old materials testing technician from our technical group. Before this， I had devoted all my energy to work and spent my free moments longing for the girl far away， almost ignoring Long， who worked alongside me and was quite lovely. At that moment， I felt a surge of emotion and gratitude.

A few months later， the main beams of the Jiang Bridge were installed， and the concrete deck was also poured. Only a few finishing touches were left for the bridge deck system. The reinforcement project for the Qiangjiang Bridge had long been completed， and the team had relocated to the Niba Mountain area between Xingjing County and Hanyuan County to reconstruct the stone arch bridge at 108k （atop Niba Mountain）. I was assigned to lead the reconstruction project at Sanban Bridge， about 10 kilometers from 108k， transforming the old wooden bridge into a concrete T-beam bridge with a span of 20 meters. This was a standalone construction site.

As winter approached， one night with a waxing crescent moon， Liao Chunji （nicknamed “Liao Landlord”）， a driver from the transportation team at the Sichuan Highway Bureau， drove a 2-ton Yuejin-brand truck （commonly known as “Nanjing brand”）， loaded with planks destined for the Sanban Bridge site. A thin layer of frost covered the planks. I was wearing a thin cotton jacket with a fleece layer underneath， lying on the wooden boards atop the truck. I had a small lifting rope tied around my waist， with one end secured to the truck bed to prevent the bumps in the road from throwing me off. My simple bedding and suitcase were also tied to the wooden boards with the same lifting rope. And so， we set off towards the Sanban Bridge construction site， over 80 kilometers away on Niba Mountain.