In early summer in May, on the Northern Shaanxi Loess Plateau where ridges and mounds rise and fall and gullies crisscross, amid the greenery covering the hills, a steel artery is winding and stretching out, piercing through the thick barriers of the loess layer. As the core project of the Baotou (Yinchuan)-Hainan corridor of the national "Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal" high-speed rail network and the northern backbone of Shaanxi's "rice-character-shaped" high-speed rail network, the Yan'an-Yulin High-speed Railway is accelerating its construction. Thousands of builders have taken root on the Loess Plateau, battling natural chasms with craftsmanship and building thoroughfares with solid work, writing a striving chapter in the high-speed rail construction of the old revolutionary base areas.

"As the survey and design unit, our institute applies BIM technology throughout the process to build three-dimensional digital models, and combines remote sensing and surveying data to precisely avoid unfavorable geological sections such as landslides and collapses. At the same time, we strictly adhere to the bottom line of ecological protection, integrate the alignment harmoniously with the Loess Plateau terrain, and strive to create a green ecological high-speed railway," said Chen Xuexian, chief designer of the Yan'an-Yulin High-speed Railway at China Railway First Survey and Design Institute.

The 238.74-kilometer Yan'an-Yulin High-speed Railway starts in the south at Yan'an Station of the Xi'an-Yan'an High-speed Railway and ends in the north at the newly built Yulin South Station, passing through 7 districts and counties in the two cities of Yan'an and Yulin. The bridge-tunnel ratio is as high as 94.3%, including 5 extra-long tunnels of more than 10 kilometers. The longest, Tongbaiyuan No. 1 Tunnel, has a total length of 14.6 kilometers, making the line truly a "high-speed railway in the clouds" on the Loess Plateau.

"The loess here is like a 'shortbread'—the soil is loose and the terrain is complex. When tunneling, if you are not careful, there will be collapses and falling blocks, so every step forward requires extra caution," said Zhang Renhong, project manager of the Yan'an-Yulin High-speed Railway Section 5 of China Railway 20th Bureau, on May 13.

Since construction began in December 2023, builders from China Railway 2nd Bureau, China Railway 4th Bureau, China Railway 18th Bureau and other units have tackled difficulties in this "geological museum" with the spirit of "daring to gnaw on hard bones and bravely braving dangerous passes."

At the Jiulishan Tunnel of the Yan'an-Yulin High-speed Railway, more than 500 workers and 200 machines under China Railway 14th Bureau work in 24-hour shifts, with simultaneous excavation at 6 working faces, and construction progress is being significantly accelerated.

On May 10, under the cross-section collaborative operation of China Railway 14th Bureau and China Railway 20th Bureau, the Tongbaiyuan No. 2 Tunnel of the Yan'an-Yulin High-speed Railway was successfully holed through, marking that cumulative tunnel excavation along the entire line has exceeded 64.5%.

In addition to tunnels, bridge construction is equally full of highlights. The Qingjian River Grand Bridge spans the river valley, with pile foundation construction extending deep into hard rock strata; the Chenjiagou No. 1 Grand Bridge is about 70 meters high, and builders work at height, adopting the cantilever pouring process with traveling formwork to precisely complete the bridge closure.

"From the holing-through of the Jinjiagou Tunnel, the first tunnel in the Yan'an section of the Yan'an-Yulin High-speed Railway, to the successful holing-through of the Tongbaiyuan No. 2 Tunnel; from the completion of more than 12,000 bridge pile foundations to tunnel excavation exceeding 64,000 meters, the construction progress of the Yan'an-Yulin High-speed Railway keeps climbing. The builders persist day and night, meticulously polishing every detail and strictly controlling the quality of every procedure, watering hope with sweat and fulfilling promises with solid work," said Ma Yi'an, commander of the Yan'an-Yulin High-speed Railway Construction Command of Xicheng Passenger Dedicated Line Shaanxi Company. "The Yan'an-Yulin High-speed Railway is not only a travel route convenient for the people, but also a road of hope for helping the old areas revitalize. After it opens to traffic in 2028, it will completely end the history of some areas in Northern Shaanxi having no access to high-speed rail."

A giant dragon rises on the Loess Plateau, living up to our youth and embarking on a new journey. From blueprints to thoroughfares on the ground, from tunnel excavation to towering bridges, the builders fulfill their mission with original aspiration and build monuments with solid work, engraving a brand-new mark of China's high-speed rail on the Loess Plateau. In the near future, when giant dragons speed north from the sacred land of Yan'an, cross the gullies and arrive at the pearl beyond the Great Wall, Yulin, the picture of north-south linkage and coordinated development across the Sanqin land will surely be even more magnificent.

Source: Qunzhong News Network