Focusing on May 30th, Breaking the Ice and Achieving Great Success—A Glimpse of the Construction of the "Three Warehouses Interconnection" Project in An'ersi Dali

　　On the afternoon of April 8th, the Dali "Three Reservoirs Connection" project promotion meeting and labor competition promotion meeting of the Group was held in Eryuan County, Dali Prefecture. Vice Governor Zou Ziqing of Dali Prefecture, General Manager Liu Guoqiang of the Group, Chairman Chen Wenshuang of the Group's Trade Union, and leaders from the Dali Prefecture Water Resources Bureau, the Group, and participating units gathered together to officially launch the assault campaign of "40 days of hard work to achieve the 5.30 node." As a key participating company, Manager Cui Yongzhi led the company's trade union, Youth League, and project management team to attend the meeting.

　　Picture: Dali Three Reservoirs Connection Project Promotion Meeting

　　The Dali Three Reservoirs Connection Project is a major task for our province in implementing the instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and the State Council on effectively managing water pollution in Erhai Lake. It is also an urgent task given to the Group by Dali Prefecture. As a professional installation company, whether we can complete the tasks of our project section on time, to the required quality and quantity, is related to whether the Group can successfully introduce the clear springs from Sanchahe Reservoir, Haixihai, and Ci Bihu in the upper reaches of Erhai Lake into Erhai Lake before May 30th, restoring a pearl to Dali Prefecture. It is also related to whether the company's professional installation brand can gain a foothold in Dali and share the Dali market with the Group's brother units. The company leadership attaches great importance to this, proceeding from the overall situation, reacting quickly, deploying comprehensively, concentrating elite teams, and rushing to Dali to join the army rescuing the Erhai Lake environment.

　　I. Fearless of Urgency, Difficulty, Danger, and Weight; Charging Upon Receiving Orders

　　The company undertook the construction and installation tasks of two sections in this project, with a total pipeline installation length of 6.6 kilometers, involving DN1200mm and DN1600mm steel pipes and DN1200mm HDPE pipes. Among them, the DN1200mm HDPE pipe is the largest diameter PE pipe ever used in China. The pipeline needs to cross farmland by Erhai Lake, wetlands where wild birds gather, fast-flowing rivers, and a dam. It also intersects with highway construction sites. More than 3 kilometers of pipeline needs to be installed under the riverbed, involving a large amount of underwater work. The complex construction process, harsh construction environment, and urgent construction time are all extremely challenging.

　　After receiving the task, the company attached great importance to it. Yang Pengyong, the company's deputy general manager of production, was stationed to command, and Yan Wenyong, the secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission, was stationed to supervise. The Sixth, First, and Seventh Engineering Departments were immediately organized to enter the construction site. Within one week, all personnel and equipment were in place, and the construction site was bustling with activity. At the same time, at the Kunming base, the Jin structure processing center has begun working day and night to process the pipe materials needed on site, providing material support for project implementation.

　　II. Company-Wide Mobilization; Key Leaders Fully Focused

　　The Dali Three Reservoirs Connection Project was identified by the Group as the "No. 1 Project" for the entire Group in 2017. In response, the company's Party Committee, Youth League Committee, and Trade Union quickly deployed and arranged labor competitions at the project site, with Chairman Gu Yongmao and General Manager Cui Yongzhi leading the team to guide the work on the front line.

　　On the afternoon of April 9th, Chairman Gu Yongmao and the construction management personnel at the site conducted a field survey on foot. The spring wind of Shangguan did not have the poetic charm described by poets; it carried sand, stinging people's faces. Some of the small colorful flags marking the land acquisition were blown down. Every time he saw a fallen flag, the chairman would bend down to pick it up and firmly insert the flagpole back into the ground. It took the whole afternoon to walk the entire length of the construction section involved in the company's project department. At every construction point with technical difficulties or requiring design coordination, he inquired and learned from the project site executive manager, discussed technical solutions with everyone, and even squatted down at the rainbow pipe bridge crossing the river to explain the construction and installation points in detail to the project technical personnel using sketches.

　　On the evening of April 9th, in the office of the project department on site, the highest-level on-site project meeting in the company's history lasted until the early morning. The two main leaders presided, Deputy Manager Yang Pengyong, who was stationed on site, hosted the meeting. Seven leaders from the company's leadership team and expanded leadership team members gathered at the site to hold a mobilization meeting, understand the progress of each project department, analyze and discuss the difficulties in the construction of each section, and immediately arrange and deploy the allocation of manpower and material resources that the company needs to solve. They required the participating engineering departments to work as one, establish a smooth communication mechanism, report the engineering progress and specific difficulties to the leadership team every day, proceed from the overall situation, not hide their shortcomings, solve problems collectively when encountered, and achieve experience sharing, information sharing, and technology sharing.

　　At the meeting, the members of the company's leadership team also analyzed and arranged the issues of internal and external coordination, equipment allocation, personnel organization, land acquisition, road closures, safety, quality control, and technical solution adjustments as special issues, requiring that each link of the engineering project be closely linked and that no disconnections or dropped chains occur. In his mobilization speech, the chairman emphasized that the project to protect Erhai Lake is a special gift from the Group and the company to the people of Dali, and that only success is allowed, not failure. No matter how tight the construction period is, we must pay attention to quality and safety issues. Steel pipes without anti-corrosion treatment cannot enter the site, welders who do not meet technical standards cannot enter the construction site, and labor teams without safety awareness cannot accept tasks. He also required the project department to convey this to every participating employee.

　　Picture: The company chairman inspecting the construction site

　　Picture: The company general manager inspecting the site

　　Picture: The company chairman and on-site management personnel drawing sketches to understand the rainbow-type pipe bridge construction plan

　　Picture: Inspection of the intersection construction site

　　III. Youth Power; Assault Teams Shining

　　As the saying goes, there is no turning back after drawing the bow. The construction period is like a war. As the project progresses, the company's construction countdown has entered a critical state calculated in hours. In order to fully utilize the youth reserve force and the role of the assault team, on April 6th, in accordance with the unified deployment of the Group's Youth League Committee, the company's Youth League Committee selected 50 young technical backbones from the on-site participants and established two new forces: the "Wolf Tooth Youth Assault Team" and the "War Wolf Youth Assault Team." They adopted the "day and night," "5+2" model, dividing the project into sections and assigning them to specific individuals. Responsibilities were clearly defined, work was quantified, progress reports were given daily, feedback was timely, and accountability was timely. Young project backbones led the project's broad young employees in competing in safety, quality, progress, innovation, team building, and image, overcoming difficulties, carrying forward the company's tradition of not waiting, not relying, not being afraid of hardship or fatigue, inserting the assault team's flag into the fields, and integrating the assault team's spirit into the construction process.

　　Picture: The establishment of the Youth Assault Team

　　Above: The Youth Assault Team going deep into the construction site

　　IV. Facing Construction Difficulties; Tackling Technical Problems Together

　　The construction site of the Dali Three Reservoirs Connection Project is located by Erhai Lake, crossing farmland, wetlands, rivers, and beaches. Groundwater resources are abundant, which has brought great difficulties to the welding of pipelines.

　　The farmland by Erhai Lake is fertile and flat, with soft and moist soil. Large garlic planting areas are in their harvest season, and the smell of garlic in the air brings unbridled joy to the garlic farmers, but causes headaches for the construction workers. The soil, after years of cultivation and nourishment, is in the most fluffy state conducive to crop growth. The garlic planted in the ground can be pulled up by the roots with a little effort. To successfully dig a trench suitable for laying steel pipes in such soil, steel sheet pile walls reaching 9 meters deep are required to prevent the excavation trench from collapsing. Every inch of the flat farmland is precious, and most of the construction roads can only accommodate small agricultural tractors, making it impossible for large construction machinery to enter the target construction area. At the same time, the groundwater in the farmland area is extremely shallow, and almost every construction section requires a water pump to remove accumulated water from the pipeline laying trench, which poses challenges to on-site construction. The farmland connected to the river area's construction is located in a shady area, with a relatively long crop growth cycle. Most crops have not yet fully matured, which has brought considerable difficulties to the company's project department's land acquisition work. On the one hand, the farmers' hard-earned crops have not yet been harvested, and on the other hand, the project deadline is imminent, making coordination extremely difficult.

　　The section 3, implemented by the first and seventh construction departments, is the most difficult part of the entire project and a control project. There is a three-kilometer-long river with a swift current, and the pipeline runs along the river. Burying the DN1600mm carbon steel pipe 3 meters deep under the riverbed, and excavating and sealing the trench are huge challenges. Welders work in the muddy trench under extremely harsh conditions. Faced with these difficulties, the project team members did not back down but actively responded. The construction technicians made careful technical preparations and conducted in-depth and detailed simulations of the underwater pipeline construction plan. Because of the thorough plan preparation, when we arrived, we saw workers filling soil, building cofferdams, excavating, assembling pipes, and welding in the river, with smooth process connections and orderly construction.

　　The large-diameter PE pipe welding used in this project is a first in the industry. Yunling, a senior technician from the company's technology center and a veteran welding expert, rushed to the site overnight to support the construction, searching for information, consulting literature, and conducting technical research to determine the welding plan and ensure the success of the project. The business synergy of the technical system reflects the company's unity and concerted efforts to overcome difficulties.

　　Since the launch of the labor competition, leaders, party members, and assault team members have taken the lead, working day and night with one goal: to complete the water supply on May 30. No one has complained or raised objections, because everyone understands the arduous task entrusted by the group and dares not be the slightest negligent.

　　Protecting Erhai Lake, JianTou is in action; Protecting Erhai Lake, Yunnan Er'an is striving.

　　The above two images are from the project site meeting.

　　[Pictures and text: Cui Yongzhi Wang Si Zhao Wang Fei]