the engineering construction team of jiangsu offshore longyuan is being interviewed by the journalist with the cctv when installing the single tubular pile
a shot of the intertidal zone wind power farm of jiangsu offshore longyuan
“now we are ready to move this construction vessel to somewhere seven km away to hoist and install the wind turbine. it is no easy job to accurately put such a vessel as big as a football field in place within two hours when the tide rises …” zhu hong, a reporter of the cctv is interviewing the workers on the deck of the construction vessel of longyuan zhenhua with her fingers pointing to the sea in the distance.
on september 20, reporters with the column “going down to the grassroots” of cctv news came to the crane ship of longyuan zhenhua under jiangsu offshore longyuan and interviewed and filmed the construction of the 150 megawatts large-scale (intertidal zone) demonstration project of guodian longyuan offshore wind power farm. as of the beginning of this month, the publicity department of the cpc central committee and other departments concerned jointly launched activities of “going down to the grassroots, changing the working style and writhing style” among the domestic news media. the column group “going down to the grassroots” of cctv chose the 150 megawatts large-scale (intertidal zone) demonstrative project of guodian longyuan as a key subject to cover during the “12th five-year program” period. its pickup camera was thus leveled at the engineering construction team of jiangsu offshore longyuan, taking them as the model workers in the offshore wind power undertaking in our country.
making technological innovation to improve engineering efficiency
at 10:00 am, zhang leping began to direct the piling work after boarding the construction ship. actually, this is the tenth time that he was responsible for the installing of the single tubular pile. the 220-ton hydraulic impact hammer constantly thumped against the 400-ton foundation pile, just like “playing a large-scale symphony”. in the eyes of zhang, everything here was going as planned and there is nothing new or exciting. however, speaking of those days when he first received the pile-sinking task, he still found his heart was rising and falling like waves.
to build a foundation for the wind turbine at the intertidal zone, a concrete foundation will require 20 days and a multi-tubular pile foundation will need 10 days. to improve the efficiency of construction, longyuan power decided to extensively adopt the technique of single tubular pile sinking. as the first one to eat crabs, longyuan power had no successful experiences to follow at home and abroad in this regard. in the first two attempts, the vertical error rate was far higher than the industrial standard and cannot satisfy the technical requirements of the wind turbine for normal operation. just at this critical moment, zhang leping was appointed as the field commander in chief to directly take charge of this arduous task. “i was feeling the pressure then and didn’t sleep two days and two nights because the two previous failures had made us have no escape route at all,” recalled zhang leping.
when the second tubular pile was still made slanted, some experts held that it was impossible to achieve the six thousandths of the error rate with our current technology. however, zhang leping insisted on making the third try. “this scheme comes from our repeated research and several rounds of discussions by the specialists of the designing institute. as long as the foundation pile is put in a naturally vertical position, we’ll make it. i have confidence in this.”
on august 13, zhang leping led his engineering construction team to install the pile for the third time. during the over two hours’ installation, “we had been standing in front of the skirt pile gripper,” said zhang. “at the beginning, the verticality was monitored and adjusted once every time when the tubular pine sank 25 cm. later it was checked one time when the pile went down another one meter.” according to chen qiang, a member of the construction team, “throughout the whole installing process, the hydraulic impact hammer thumped over 3,000 times in total and the interphones in our hands were also working nonstop.” with the sound of the last thump, the skirt pile gripper showed that the vertical error rate was at two thousandths. that is to say, the jumbos which is over 50 meters in length with a diameter of 5 meters and a weight of millions of tons, has been successfully driven over 40 meters underground with the maximum power up to 11,000 tons. the vertical error rate is merely several millimeters. seeing this, zhang leping smiled.
now, this engineering construction team has had a better grasp of the technique of installing the single tubular pile. they know fairly well that how much power every thump should produce and how to accurately calculate and adjust the verticality according to specific geological conditions in the operation. it is regarded as their core technology.
zhang gang, general manager of jiangsu offshore longyuan, said: “i really appreciate the engineering construction team. their success is not only a success in installing the foundation pile. more importantly, it means that we have made a technological breakthrough in sinking the single tubular pile and mastered the core technology of the large-scale development of offshore wind power.”
at present, the engineering construction team of jiangsu offshore longyuan is able to install ten single tubular piles on a monthly basis with the error rate averaged at three thousandths, greatly accelerating the project construction.
living aboard the ship to ensure the construction progress
at 11:00 at midnight, seeing that the engineering construction team began to hoist and install the basic auxiliary devices like the collision post, threading pipe for undersea cables and the basic offshore platform for the wind turbine, the reporter of cctv felt very confused. “why do you begin to work so late?”
affected by the moon, the tide rises twice every day. moreover, it comes about one hour later than the previous day, thus forming a circle of 15 days. given this, the construction ship can only be used for transportation when the tide rises while workers can only begin to work when the tide recedes, exposing the beach. therefore, the construction team has to keep adjusting its work schedule in accordance with the rise and fall of the tide. “our work schedule is decided by the moon. if the tide reaches a higher level around 3:00 today, we’ll have to get up and move the ship at 3:00 am. then, we’ll get up and work at 4:00 am tomorrow, at 5:00 am the day after tomorrow, and the like. as the things always continue this way, our workers’ circadian clocks have been greatly disrupted, bringing them a lot of discomfort,” zhang said.
the construction ship, very large in size, moves very slowly while the tide is changing all the time. so the time available for work is very short and fragmented. “our work must be done in a very effective way. every minute is very important. most probably, only several minutes’ delay will make us stop and wait for the next tide coming. the construction schedule will also be put off one day,” zhang explained. all these factors decide that the workers on the ship cannot go ashore frequently. the construction ship thus becomes the second home of the construction team.
ji xiaoqiang is 30 years old this year and has an eight-month-old baby. mentioning the current work situation, he bitterly shook his head: “i once stayed on the ship as long as four months. i missed my families so much then. my baby is that young, but i cannot regularly go back home and take care of him. i really feel guilty for my wife and child.”
it was the wee hours when the installation of the basic auxiliary devices for the wine turbine had been finished. however, tang yongwei was still reading on the bed. “the sea wind is really too strong, making the glass window whistling all the time. i cannot sleep. and besides, we’ll get up to move the ship at 5:00 am. so i’m not going to sleep,” said tang.
wang xulong is the youngest in the team, only 24 years old. as a student in liberal arts, he has been working here for less than three years. but the long-time working experience on the ship has enabled him to independently direct the hoisting and installing of the wind turbine. “although working on the ship is really very hard, it can teach me a lot,” wang xulong said in an optimistic tone.
zhang bin said: “there is a specific division of labor in our team. basically, one turnip is for one pit. and even one turnip is for several pits. we are so busy that no one can be spared for any other’s work.” in addition, the construction team also needs to deal with some unexpected emergencies.
zhan bin recalled that one time when they installed the cabin of the wind turbine, the wind speed suddenly increased to 14 meters per second. the tower wavered in the strong wind. “at the time, the third section of the tower was just lifted, if the cabin was not added to it timely, the screw bolts will be broken and even worse, the tower will collapse and result in the losses of millions of yuan. fortunately, later taking advantage of the characteristics of the tide, when wind speed dropped to 12 meters per second, we successfully put the cabin on it. but every one of us broke out in a cold sweat.
to ensure the project progresses as planned, the engineering construction team of jiangsu offshore longyuan has long been lived and worked on the ship. the only purpose is to speed up the construction pace, maintain and expand the industry leadership of longyuan offshore wind power within the domestic sector, and lay a solid technological foundation for the large-scale development of offshore wind power in the future. of course, the premise is guaranteeing safety and quality.
(feng yang of the corporate office)