This article is reproduced from: Hunan Daily
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National model worker Zhang Shuaikun. Photo by correspondent
Hunan Daily All-Media Reporter Xie Zhuofang Correspondent Hu Qing Wang Zhiwen
【Honor File】
Zhang Shuaikun, male, born in October 1984, a member of the Communist Party of China, a senior engineer, currently a first-class researcher at China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Group Co., Ltd., has won the 2023 Great Power Craftsman of the Year, the National May 1st Labor Medal, a Hunan Provincial Labor Model, and a Hunan Model.
【Struggle Stories】
“Haitai Tunnel, start to set out!” On the morning of April 9, a “underground dragon” excavated with a diameter of 16.64 meters opened from north to south to sneak through the river. This is the largest diameter shield machine independently developed by my country, “Jianghai”, which marks another breakthrough in the industrialization of domestic super-large diameter shield machines.
“Hand the key technologies in your own hands, so that the country's important weapons are no longer controlled by others.” Zhang Shuixun, head of the research and development team and a first-level researcher at the Railway Construction Heavy Industry, introduced that “Jianghai” is not only big, but also has high “martial skills”. The team has carried out innovative research on nine major systems such as knife cutting tools, main drive, propulsion, and synchronous grouting, so that the equipment can be safely, efficiently and intelligently excavated in the project.
From the launch of the first composite mud water balance shield machine in China to the repeated breaking records of the “Jianghai” this road to the advancement of domestic shield machine is full of Zhang Shuaikun's footprints.
In 2008, after graduating from university, Zhang Shuaikun entered the tunnel construction industry. At that time, my country's shield machines used imported goods, and the seller shouted “sky-high prices”. The delivery cycle was as long as two years, and the failure rate was high, so the service could not keep up.
“Everyone is constrained, and every ordinary repair has to be set up to prevent Chinese people from getting close to each other.” Zhang Shuaikun recalled.
We must make our own shield machine for the Chinese! ——This idea took root in Zhang Shuaikun’s heart. He started as a shield driver and gradually became familiar with the operation and maintenance of the shield machine, and spent more than 400 days and nights in the wet and dark tunnel. After get off work, I continued to study the shield machine drawings in the dormitory, and I only had four or five hours of rest every day.
Once, the shield machine assembly system trembled, causing the whole machine to “paralyze”. Three foreign personnel were hired, but it was not repaired for more than a month. The project team lost more than 200,000 yuan a day. At an emergency, Zhang Shuaikun’s project team decided to repair it on its own. While translating the manual, Zhang Shuaikun disassembled the parts. After seven days and seven nights of research and comparison, he finally found the unqualified motor valve core and quickly replaced it in a domestic manner. In this way, Zhang Shuaikun officially took up the R&D position and began to participate in the development of domestic shield machines.
In 2010, Zhang Shuixun joined Railway Construction Heavy Industry and took on the task of developing the first composite mud water balance shield machine in China. At that time, in the corner of the office, Zhang Shuaikun always had a suitcase to make it easier to travel on business at any time. “A good design plan cannot be studied only in the laboratory, but must be grasped in the details in the front line,” he said.
He buryed his head and sharpened his blade, and the sharpness appeared. In 2013, the first domestic 6-meter-level composite mud water balance shield machine “Xingjian No.” was successfully launched. At that moment, Zhang Shuaikun was extremely excited: “This is just the starting point, we can make the Chinese shield machine bigger.”
Since then, from “Zhongyuan No. 1”, “Wangjing No. 1” to “Shenjiang No. 1” and “Jinghua No. 8 meters, 10 meters to 14 meters and 16 meters, Zhang Shuixun made the diameter of the shield machine bigger and bigger.
Zhang Shuaikun can't forget the day in 2018. That day, the shield machine developed by Zhang Shuaikun's team was exported to Russia, “digging” the extremely cold of minus 30 degrees Celsius at a speed of 35 meters per day, setting a new Russian subway construction record. Russian experts said: “More than 60 years ago, we taught Beijing how to build a subway. More than 60 years later, we used Chinese shield machines to build a Moscow subway, which is amazing!” To this day, the shield machine products of Railway Construction Heavy Industry have been exported to more than 30 countries and regions overseas.
When the “Jianghai” started the excavation procedure at the mouth of the Yangtze River, Zhang Shuaikun stood in front of the console, as if he was back to the wet tunnel. As time goes by, he still maintains his focus on hand-drawn drawings, but the pencil in his hand has become a three-dimensional modeling software, and the drawings in front of him have extended into an underground Silk Road across mountains and seas. This craftsman who grew up with the “underground dragon” opened up infinite possibilities in the underground world with the key of innovation, allowing Chinese Manufacturing to shine brightly in the darkness – just like the mine lights always on his hard hat, illuminating the long night from chasing to leading the way.