Civil Engineering | Wandering China

April 21, 2013 • 9:31 am 0

Prayers for quake-hit Ya’an [ChinaDaily] #China #YaAnEarthquake

China mobilizes for Ya’an 雅安, Sichuan.

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Rescue teams head to quake-hit areas
Source – China Daily, published April 20, 2013

Members of the Chongqing Fire Corps gather before heading to the earthquake-hit region of southwest China’s Sichuan Province, in Chongqing, also in southwest China, April 20, 2013. A rescue team consisted of more than 200 fire fighters and 27 rescue vehicles has headed to the quake-hit region on April 20 morning after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit Lushan County of Sichuan Province at 8:02 a.m. Beijing Time (0002 GMT) on Saturday.. [Photo/Xinhua]

Prayers for quake-hit Ya’an
Source – China Daily, published April 20, 2013

Students in Liaocheng city of Shandong province hold banners praying for the safety of people in Ya’an city, Southwest China’s Sichuan province on April 20, after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit the area on Saturday morning. A 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit Lushan county of Ya’an city in the province at 8:02 am Saturday, leaving more than 100 dead. [Photo/Xinhua]

Please click here to access the rest of the photo story at its source,

Filed under: Charm Offensive, Chinese Model, Civil Engineering, Communications, Culture, Disaster, Domestic Growth, Environment, Infrastructure, Mapping Feelings, Natural Disasters, People, The Chinese Identity

September 5, 2012 • 12:01 am 0

[Heilongjiang] High speed rail may need to be rebuilt [Global Times]

Rail safety and the 350km/h benchmark: China considers rebuilding the Harbin-Dalian high speed railroad, its northernmost, 904km long high speed railway. With temperatures dropping to as low as -40 degrees C in the area, Wang Mengshu, the chief engineer of the China Railway Tunnel Group warned the Global Times certain parts of the railroad were not designed right at the onset. China’s sprawling high speed rail network may be one of the prides of nation-building, but there have been problems, like the Wenzhou crash last year.

China Railway Tunnel Group is member enterprise of the state-owned China Railway Engineering Corporation 中国中铁, the third largest civil construction enterprise in the world with 220,000 employees.

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High speed rail may need to be rebuilt
By Bai Tiantian
Source – Global Times, published September 4, 2012

Part of the newly built Harbin-Dalian high speed railroad connecting Northeast China’s Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces is now facing reconstruction due to roadbed deformation, an expert said on Tuesday.

Wang Mengshu, chief engineer of the China Railway Tunnel Group and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, told the Global Times that certain parts of the railroad were not initially designed properly.

“In regions where the temperature varies greatly around the year, frost heaving becomes a major problem in construction,” said Wang. “Designers need to pay extra attention to the amount of water in the roadbed. Too little water reduces roadbed strength, while too much water could cause deformation.” Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: 52 Unacceptable Practices, Beijing Consensus, Chinese Model, Civil Engineering, Domestic Growth, Economics, Environment, Finance, global times, Government & Policy, High Speed Rail, Influence, Infrastructure, Modernisation, Social, Transport, China's Rise, Economics, Environment, Transportation

August 22, 2012 • 1:03 am 0

The Chinese Population [Visua.Ly/Chinainfographics.com]

This infographic was recently picked up by Business Insider, and it has been trending in social media. A little dated however, as this was produced in 2010. Data for Chinese cities were from 2007 while western city data was estimated from 2009. Nevertheless, helpful as a visualizer to see size of Chinese cities relative to each other and some of those in the west.

During the last, and sixth census in 2010 by the National Bureau of Statistics of People’s Republic of China a staggering six million census workers (poignant in itself as this is more than the population for about half of the world’s countries) attempted to visit 400 million households, it was found Shanghai now stands at about 20.8 million while Beijing is about 17.3 million.

Check out a China Daily ‘Factbox’ on the census here.

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The long tail of 60 Chinese cities with an urban area population of more than one million.
Source – Visual.ly (by Chinainfographic), n.d.

Source – Visua.ly, n.d.

If you have ever been to China, you know just how crowded it is with people. However, it may still shock you to see the actual numbers behind the people of China living in its major cities. Here is a look at 60 Chinese cities whose populations are upward of one million people. Blurp from Visual.ly

Filed under: 2010 National Census, Beijing Consensus, China Daily, Chinese Model, Civil Engineering, Domestic Growth, Economics, Environment, Finance, Infrastructure, Modernisation, Population, Property, Social, The Chinese Identity, China's Rise, Economics, Environment, Infrastructure, Natural Resources, Urbanisation

July 31, 2011 • 11:49 am 0

The significance of China’s high-speed train crash [Straits Times]

Singapore: Straits Times correspondent Tracy Quek, and I recall sharing her sentiments both times I managed to use the high-speed rail – ‘On my first ride, I marvelled at the sleek, white carriages, the spotless interiors, the warmth of the service staff, and above all, the smoothness and comfort of the journey…. This is the way to travel! This is the face of progress! The United States (where I have been working since mid-2009) should get its act together and build its own high-speed rail network, I remember telling myself as I snapped a picture of the monitor in the cabin showing the train’s speed hitting 300km/h.’

In this instance, she reveals that little has changed over China’s handing of disasters such as this, with news that officials had ordered the damaged train carriages buried, and that China’s Railway Ministry has been less than forthright about what caused the crash, offering only vague responses to reporters seeking details.

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The significance of China’s high-speed train crash
Tracy Quek, US Correspondent
Source – Straits Times, published July 26, 2011

For the past month, I have been a regular commuter on China’s high speed trains, zipping up and down the country between major cities including Nanjing, Wuxi and Shanghai.

On my first ride, I marvelled at the sleek, white carriages, the spotless interiors, the warmth of the service staff, and above all, the smoothness and comfort of the journey.

This is the way to travel! This is the face of progress! The United States (where I have been working since mid-2009) should get its act together and build its own high-speed rail network, I remember telling myself as I snapped a picture of the monitor in the cabin showing the train’s speed hitting 300km/h. Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Automotive, Chinese Model, Civil Engineering, Domestic Growth, High Speed Rail, Media, Politics, Straits Times, The Chinese Identity, The construction of Chinese and Non-Chinese identities, Transport

July 26, 2011 • 12:01 am 0

Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan to visit Singapore [Channel News Asia]

Singapore was one of the key inspirations for China’s Shenzhen SEZs in the 80s and the on-running Suzhou (1994) and Tianjin projects (2007) are continuing symbolic acts of co-operation between China and Chinese-majority Singapore.

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Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan to visit Singapore
By Joanne Chan
Source – Channel News Asia, published July 25, 2011

SINGAPORE : Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan will lead a delegation of Ministers and senior officials to Singapore on a three-day visit starting Tuesday, at the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean.

Mr Teo and Mr Wang will co-chair the 13th Suzhou Industrial Park Joint Steering Council, 4th Tianjin Eco-City Joint Steering Council and 8th Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation meetings on July 27.

A joint media statement issued by Singapore’s ministries of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Industry and National Development said the Suzhou and Tianjin Eco-City meetings will review the progress of the respective projects and chart new directions for future development. Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Beijing Consensus, Channel News Asia, Charm Offensive, Civil Engineering, Domestic Growth, Economics, Greater China, Green China, Influence, Infrastructure, International Relations, Politics, Public Diplomacy, Singapore, Social, Soft Power, Strategy, The Chinese Identity, The construction of Chinese and Non-Chinese identities, Trade

July 25, 2011 • 1:20 am 0

Toddler pulled alive from China train crash wreckage [AP/The Age]

Unfortunate news. There had been talk earlier that corruption (Corruption Hits China’s High-Speed Railway, FT/CNBC March 24 2011) could put a grinding halt the high speed rail project with breakdowns as recent as this month - High Speed Rail breaks down again (China Daily, July 14, 2011).

58 trains have been suspended and the fault has been identified as lightning-triggered. In Chinese fashion, the accountable will be hunted down and made an example of – Senior officials sacked after deadly train collision (China Daily, July 24, 2011).

Although this line from Hangzhou to Wenzhou which I have taken is another altogether, and older.

It looks like China’s ambitious high speed rail plans (see earlier posts – China’s rail expansion is on the fast track (Straits Times, November 8 2010)) hits a major multifaceted hurdle of engineering, corruption and people’s diplomacy. The official apology from the ministry – Ministry spokesman apologizes for deadly crash + China Daily’s updates [China Daily, July 25, 2011)

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Toddler pulled alive from China train crash wreckage
AP
Source – The Age, published July 25, 2011

: Off track … carriages were derailed in the accident. Photo: AP

A toddler was rescued about 21 hours after a crash involving two high-speed trains in eastern China killed at least 43 people and injured more than 200 others, state media reported.

The unconscious child was found early on Sunday evening while rescuers were clearing one of the train cars just as the cleanup efforts were almost completed. It cited an unnamed firefighter.

“When we found him, he could still move his hands,” Xinhua News Agency quoted the firefighter as saying. Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: 52 Unacceptable Practices, AP, Automotive, Beijing Consensus, Chinese Model, Civil Engineering, Corruption, Crime, Disaster, Domestic Growth, Economics, Environment, High Speed Rail, Infrastructure, Modernisation, Population, Social, The Age, Transport

July 21, 2011 • 12:01 am 0

100 km of frustration on Beijing-Tibet Highway [China Daily]

100 km of frustration on Beijing-Tibet Highway
Source – China Daily, published July 20, 2011

A traffic jam caused by road works stretches nearly 100 km on a section of the Beijing-Tibet Highway in Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, on July 19, 2011. Photo - Xinhua

Two drivers trapped by a traffic jam have to eat instant noodles for their supper, on July 19, 2011. A traffic jam caused by road works since July 10 stretches nearly 100 km on a section of the Beijing-Tibet Highway in Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Photo - Xinhua

Filed under: Automotive, Beijing Consensus, China Daily, Chinese Model, Civil Engineering, Communications, Communist Party 90th Anniversary, Domestic Growth, Infrastructure, Population, Social, Tibet, Transport

July 14, 2011 • 12:26 am 0

High-speed train breaks down again [China Daily]

China’s high speed rail’s pride and joy, the newly opened Beijing-Shanghai line starts to show operational and expectational cracks. The USD$33 billion dollar line halves the rail journey time between China’s political and financial hubs to just five hours, and was celebrated as a milestone but perhaps a lesson can be learnt as seen in the quote below – ’rationality should have been fostered from the very beginning…’

“If the railway department pre-warned that high-speed trains could be disrupted by thunderstorms and gales, or that problems are inevitable in the initial stages, I would not have such high expectations … Rationality should be fostered from the very beginning.” Zhang Quanling, anchor with China Central Television

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High-speed train breaks down again
By Xin Dingding
Source – China Daily, published July 14, 2011

BEIJING – A northbound train on the newly opened Beijing-Shanghai high-speed line broke down on Wednesday, the third such incident since Sunday when services were disrupted by power outages.

The Beijing railway bureau said on its official micro blog that the train encountered “a sudden malfunction and could not operate normally”.

Passengers had to take a back-up train, which arrived at Beijing South Railway Station at about 5 pm, two and a half hours behind schedule, the bureau said. Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Automotive, Beijing Consensus, Charm Offensive, China Daily, Chinese Model, Civil Engineering, Communications, Communist Party 90th Anniversary, Domestic Growth, Economics, Environment, High Speed Rail, Infrastructure, Modernisation, Nationalism, Transport

July 8, 2011 • 12:01 am 0

The People’s Republic aims to become the world’s civil engineer [New York Times/The Age]

From world’s factory to competitor in the information economy, biggest rail maker and now world’s civil engineer. And so China gets involved in the largest public infrastructure project in California’s history saving California a reported US$400m . The superlatives keep coming in, according to this report from the New York Times published in Australia -

”I don’t think the US fabrication industry could put a project like this together… Most US companies don’t have these types of warehouses, equipment or the cash flow… The Chinese load the ships and it’s their ships that deliver to our piers.” Project director for the American Bridge/Fluor Enterprises joint venture, Brian Petersen

For more – Last modules of new US Bridge to shipped next month (Want China Times, June 27, 2011)

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China builds bridges with America
David Barboza, Shanghai
New York Times
Source – The Age, published June 27, 2011

Chinese labourers in China at work on a section of the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, saving California millions in costs. Photo: NYT

The People’s Republic aims to become the world’s civil engineer.

AT A sprawling manufacturing complex in Shanghai, hundreds of Chinese labourers are completing work on the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

Next month, the last four of more than two-dozen giant steel modules complete with roadbed segments will be loaded onto a huge ship and transported 10,500 kilometres to California.

The assembly work there, and the pouring of the concrete road surface, will be done by Americans. But California officials say the state saved hundreds of millions of dollars by choosing to have the bridge decks made in China. Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Beijing Consensus, Charm Offensive, Chinese Model, Civil Engineering, Economics, Influence, Infrastructure, International Relations, New York Times, Politics, Public Diplomacy, Social, Soft Power, The Age, U.S.

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Wandering China

Prayers for quake-hit Ya’an [ChinaDaily] #China #YaAnEarthquake

The significance of China’s high-speed train crash [Straits Times]

High-speed train breaks down again [China Daily]

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