Author: Chu Lijun
Located in Dushanzi District, Karamay City, Xinjiang, the Duku Highway Museum was officially opened on June 12, 2020, and is currently the only museum named after a highway in China. It is close to the south side of Dushanzi City, located in the core area of the Duku base camp, and the stone monument of the "zero kilometer" starting point of the Duku Highway is located on the square in front of the museum, which is a must-pass place for self-driving tours of the Duku Highway and a place for Internet celebrities to check in.
In order to remember the history of road construction, carry forward the spirit of road construction in the Tianshan Mountains, show the beautiful scenery of the Duku Highway, and promote economic development, the Dushanzi District Committee and the District Government of Karamay City have built the Duku Highway Museum to cherish the memory of the martyrs, remember the history, forge ahead bravely, cast a monument with loyal souls and iron bones, and the spirit of the Tianshan Mountains, the people will not forget, and the motherland will not forget.
The total area of the Duku Highway Museum is more than 1,700 square meters, and there are more than 500 precious historical documents and objects in the exhibition hall, which reproduce the history of road construction and the beautiful scenery along the Duku Highway through various forms such as display cabinets, sculptures, sand tables, and multimedia. The Duku Highway Museum is open to primary and secondary school students free of charge, and has now become an important red education base for primary and secondary school students in Dushanzi, Kuitun, Wusu and surrounding areas to cultivate patriotic feelings and inherit the party's fine traditions. It has played a positive role in inheriting the red cultural gene and promoting the spirit of patriotism.
The starting point of Duku Highway is located in Dushanzi District, Karamay City, Xinjiang, which is located at the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains and the southwest edge of the Jungkar Basin, which is the birthplace of Xinjiang's petroleum industry and one of the cradles of China's petroleum industry. Dushanzi was born because of oil, because of petrochemical and prosperous, starting from 1891 soil oil production, has gone through more than 100 years of glorious history, in a century of magnificent historical process, development and innovation, and gradually build Dushanzi into a strong, modern and exquisite green and livable city, in the construction of Duku Highway during the Dushanzi played a role in the rear of energy.
Before the construction of the Duku Highway, the barrier of the Tianshan Mountains lies between the north and south of Xinjiang, and people must go from the north to the south of Xinjiang to Urumqi in the east or the Ili River valley in the west, and the road of more than 1,000 kilometers takes more than four days to reach, and the traffic is very inconvenient.
In the early 60s of the last century, the situation on China's northwest border was tense, in order to consolidate the border defense and strengthen war preparedness, on April 9, 1964, Chairman Mao made the instruction of "invigorating the Tianshan Mountains", determined the strategic policy of "relying on the Tianshan Mountains, sticking to the plains, persisting for a long time, and fighting independently", and approved the construction of four national defense highways and other branch lines on the two lines of 0503, 0602, 0604 and 0603. The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Xinjiang Military Region, and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps took immediate action to organize forces from all quarters to engage in construction.
From 1964 to 1974, Chairman Mao approved the construction of Line 0503 (Balentai - Yili), Line 0602 (Urumqi - Bayingou), Line 0603 (Dushanzi - Yiningdun Maza) and Line 07042 (Zeketai - Kuqa) Among the four projects, Project 0603 and 07042 were part of the Tianshan Highway (known as the "Tianshan Highway" in the early days of the construction of the Duku Highway).
From 1966 to 1970, in accordance with the standards of the sixth-level highway at that time, the First Highway Survey and Design Institute of the Ministry of Communications, the Xinjiang Highway Survey and Design Institute, and the Military Communications Department of the Xinjiang Military Region participated in the survey and design of the 0603 line, and the project was included in the national defense highway construction plan of the Ministry of Communications in 1966.
In order to build a high-standard highway with a reasonable and straight route, designers and scientific researchers from all over the country set out on horses and camels with rudimentary equipment to the Gobi desert and the depths of the Tianshan Mountains. They climbed snow-capped mountains, climbed cliffs, slept in the open air, carefully investigated and studied along the route, overcame the difficulties of highway diseases, and completed the design tasks brilliantly. They were the pioneers of highway construction and made arduous efforts to build the Duku Highway.
The construction units overcame the harsh natural environment, carried out construction with simple tools, transported materials on the backs of people and camels, endured great hardships, endured great labor, and worked hard to build roads. Because it was in a special historical period at that time, the 0603 and 07042 lines were only used for combat readiness, costing a total of 8.16 million yuan. More than 10 officers and soldiers sacrificed their lives for the construction of the road. Although the early war-ready highway did not fully meet the design standards, and some sections of the road were not smooth, preliminary preparations were made for the later construction of the Duku Highway.
On April 21, 1974, the State Council and the Central Military Commission issued the Order on Accelerating the Construction of the Tianshan National Defense Highway. In April 1974, more than 10,000 officers and soldiers from the Fourth Engineering Area of the Central Military Commission's engineering corps marched to Xinjiang, gathered in the Tianshan Mountains to open mountains and split roads, and began a decade-long arduous road construction process. In order to build the Duku Highway at an early date, the officers and men carried forward the revolutionary spirit of not fearing hardship and death, climbed the ice and snow, climbed the cliffs, and overcame the dangerous battle line, and paid tremendous hardships and sacrifices, 168 officers and men sacrificed their precious lives, and thousands were wounded and disabled. In the spring and autumn of the past ten years, we have braved the wind and rain and fought tenaciously to finally make the moat a thoroughfare, which is of great significance to the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang.
The Duku Highway project is arduous and rare in the history of mainland highway construction.
The terrain is dangerous, the highest altitude of the whole line is 3400 meters, the lowest is 733 meters, of which more than 300 kilometers are lofty mountains and deep canyons, and more than 100 kilometers are cliffs and steep cliffs.
The geology is complex, the geology along the highway is complex, the landforms are diverse, the geological conditions are fragile, the highway is seriously diseased, and the construction is extremely difficult.
The climate is harsh, there are more than 280 kilometers of the whole line above sea level of more than 2000 meters, less oxygen, low temperature, road construction period, the lowest temperature along the line reaches minus 40 degrees, the average annual temperature is minus 9.5 degrees, heavy snow covers the mountains for more than half a year, and there are more than 100 areas affected by snow damage along the line.
In 2008, the army returned to Tianshan and participated in the reconstruction and expansion of the Duku Highway, once again writing new glories. With the revolutionary spirit of not fearing hardships and hardships and bloodshed and sacrifice, the officers and men of road construction faced many difficulties and challenges such as the complex climate and harsh environment, overcame many difficulties such as a low degree of mechanization, insufficient troops, and a short construction period, fought tenaciously, opened mountains and built roads, erected bridges, built culverts, and paved roads, creating miracles on earth.
In the construction of the Duku Highway, there is a 6-kilometer steep cliff, known as the "flying line" section, during the preliminary survey, the surveyors can not climb and measure, can only mark the drawings with dotted lines. The flying line construction is extremely dangerous, first make a hole, put on a steel fiber, hang a safety rope, and slowly put the gunners down along the cliff, they are drilled against the wind, wrapped around the waist of the explosive bag, hanging on the edge of the cliff to shoot the eyes and set off the cannon, they swing in the air like a swing, extremely dangerous. When the cannon rang out, the ground shook and the mountains shook, and the dotted line on the drawing paper was thus turned into a road, and the officers and men who built the road relied on their wisdom and wisdom to cross the flying line and work hard to open up a road.
Hashelegen Daban is more than 3,500 meters above sea level, there is a Kazakh proverb that says: Hashelegen big cliff, look at the glacier, look down at the white clouds, eagles do not want to fly, yellow sheep dare not climb. Therefore, it has also become the most precipitous section of the Duku Highway.
In 1977, when the construction of the Hashlegan Tunnel began, because of the lack of oxygen in the high mountains, many officers and men suffered from headaches, nausea, chest tightness and shortness of breath, and could not eat or sleep; in addition, they were tired from construction, and they could not eat fresh vegetables all year round, and the officers and men lacked nutrition, and their lips were blistered, their legs were swollen, their faces were peeling, their gums were bleeding, and their weight was lost.
The temperature in the tunnel was low, the phenomenon of ice and snow soaking was serious, and the body was numb from freezing during construction; some of the officers and men suffered from rheumatism and could not straighten their hands, and some of them bent down and played wind drills for a long time, and the lumbar spine was bent and deformed. After a tenacious struggle, the project was finally completed in 1997, and the Hashlegan Tunnel was 3,393 meters above sea level and 340 meters long, making it the highest tunnel in mainland China at that time.
Officers and soldiers pose for a group photo in front of the completed Hashilegan Tunnel.
Snow damage is one of the main obstacles affecting the progress of construction, especially in the section of the ice and snow Daban Road, avalanches have brought great impact and difficulties to the construction, and the officers and men of road construction will encounter hundreds of avalanche attacks every year, and the avalanche not only damages bulldozers and other machinery and equipment, but also poses a great threat to the barracks of the troops stationed on the snow line, and even takes the lives of the officers and men.
Ice peaks and snowy ridges, the weather is cold and the ground is freezing, and the officers and men of road construction must not only deal with the impact of frozen soil on the construction section of the plateau, but also find ways to solve the problem of paving the road surface. For the officers and soldiers who camped in the alpine area, they also had to fight against the ice in their lives, and sometimes when they woke up in the morning, the soles of their shoes were frozen on the ground. Because of the complex geological conditions along the line, especially in the section where the rock formation is severely weathered and the mountain structure is fragile, landslides may occur at any time.
The wind blows snow and avalanches frequently in Hashilegendaban, which is the most serious area of avalanches on the whole line, and the maximum avalanche volume can reach 10,000 square meters. The scientific research group for the prevention and control of snow disasters and the officers and men of the road construction have made painstaking efforts to pioneer the technology of the domestic snow prevention corridor, and have built the largest reinforced concrete soil snow prevention corridor in the mainland on Bingdaban.
The 2,885-meter-long snow corridor built at the north entrance of the Hashlegan Tunnel is horizontally arc-shaped, with one side close to the cliff and the other side facing the deep valley, with a longitudinal section of a 30-degree slope trapezoidal, and the snow and ice slag dissolves into the deep valley through the roof of the corridor to ensure the safety of vehicles and pedestrians in the corridor.
The construction of the snow corridor began in April 1979, and in order to dig out the foundation of the corridor as soon as possible, the officers and men had to clear the snow more than 7 meters high and 11 meters deep, and more than 30 avalanches occurred in the two months after the start of construction. In order to prevent avalanches, cadres, party members, and veterans formed a danger removal commando, and the team members disregarded the danger, carrying shovels, steel fibers and sledgehammers on their shoulders, carrying explosives, detonators and equipment, climbing the ice peaks and snow ridges, digging holes and putting explosives, successfully creating artificial avalanches, resolving the threat of avalanches, and providing a safety guarantee for promoting the construction of the snow prevention corridor. In 1980, the snow-proof corridor project was completed, which became a beautiful scenery line of Duku Highway.
Tielimaitidaban Mountain is extremely steep, and Mongolian means unsurmountable. In 1979, the construction of the Tielimaiti Tunnel began, which was no less than a life-and-death struggle.
After four years of construction, the Tielimat Tunnel was broken through at the end of 1982, ending the history of road construction materials, machinery, living and production materials and other transportation needs to cross the open line.
With an altitude of 3,223 meters and a length of 1,894 meters, the Tielimat Tunnel was the longest alpine road tunnel in China at that time.
Fight under the cliff
Covered in oil, there is no worry
The altitude of Yuximo Legaidaban is 3600 meters, the mountain is dangerous and the yellow sheep dare not climb, the axis of Yushimo Legaidaban tunnel is selected at the top of the ditch on both sides of the watershed, the surrounding rock is broken, the undercurrent is abundant, and the excavation is difficult, which is rare for the domestic highway tunnel.
In March 1979, the construction of the Yuxi Molegai Tunnel began, due to the complex geology, the construction was extremely difficult, and in November of the same year, the Ministry of Communications decided to change to the open line construction plan, and the tunnel construction was temporarily suspended.
In March 1982, the Yuxi Molegai Tunnel resumed work and continued construction, the road construction officers and soldiers braved the wind and snow, braved the severe cold, fought the collapse, experienced hardships and dangers, and finally completed the task in September 1988 after more than eight years of hard fighting, and accumulated valuable experience for the tunnel construction in the complex geological environment of the mainland plateau.
With an altitude of 3,280 meters and a length of 1,115 meters, the Yuxi Molegai Tunnel was the most difficult to construct a highway tunnel in China at that time, and 21 officers and soldiers sacrificed their precious lives for the construction of this tunnel.
In July 2013, the total length of the tunnel was increased to 1,943 meters.
Lardun Daban is 3000 meters above sea level, is the watershed of Gongnaisi River and Kaidu River, is also the only seamless tunnel Daban of Duku Highway, Daban wind-blown snow disaster is serious, snow depth up to 10 meters, the roadbed is all covered by snow, with the clear accumulation, can not be completely cleared, when the highway construction is nearing the end, the acceptance team takes into account the impact of snow damage on the highway after opening to traffic, proposes to increase the snow prevention project, after several years of construction, the second snow-proof corridor of Duku Highway is completed, and completely solves the disaster problem of Daban wind-blown snow.
There are two "tiger mouths" cliffs on the Duku Highway into a C shape, just like a big open tiger mouth, dangerous stones hang upside down, dangerous rocks will collapse at any time, always threatening the safety of construction personnel, road construction officers and soldiers face difficulties, dare to fight tough battles, and finally conquer the tiger mouth.
There are many mountain and valley sections of Duku Highway, and the temperature is low, resulting in the formation of permafrost layer for many years in the Daban road section, coupled with the influence of diseases such as wind blowing snow, debris flow, avalanche, freeze-melting slurry, etc., the pavement is difficult to pave, the scientific research team selects some road sections for preliminary testing, and finally plans to lay black asphalt pavement below 3000 meters above sea level, and pave mud and gravel transition pavement above 3000 meters above sea level. The width of the highway subgrade and the indicators are slightly higher than the standard of the three-level highway, and the traffic is calculated according to the traffic capacity of 1,000 Jiefang brand cars per day and night, and different technologies and methods are adopted for the climate and roadbed of different road sections. In 1978, some sections of the road began to be paved with asphalt black, and in 1979, the road construction unit fully paved all sections.
Fight the Tianshan Road
Glacial sand scooping
Officers and men used wind drills, steel fibers, shovels, and so on to dig several meters of narrow and deep holes in the mountain, and then dug the medicine chamber on the side to fill it with explosives to detonate it.
The mechanization of the construction of the Duku Highway was low, and the officers and men who built the road relied on steel fibers, shovels, and carts to pick up and load slag, and they built a national defense highway on the Tianshan Mountains.
The tunnel wind drill is still in full swing
Take suffering as pleasure
Despite the harsh environment, the hardships of life, the arduous construction of roads, and the danger of sacrifice at any time, the officers and men still maintained the spirit of revolutionary optimism.
Items used by road construction officers and soldiers
The Ministry of Communications, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Urumqi Military Region of the Xinjiang Military Region, and the infrastructure engineering corps are very concerned about the construction of the Duku Highway, and leaders at all levels personally visited the scene to express their condolences to the officers and men.
The life of the officers and men who built roads in the depths of the Tianshan Mountains was very difficult, and in order to do a good job of living and eating, the logistics department actively contacted the local government to make normal supplies. Organize personnel to go to all parts of the country to purchase various non-staple foods; mobilize officers and men to be self-reliant and engage in agricultural and sideline production; Pressure cookers, insulated barrels, cooking equipment, and supplies were distributed to the construction units in the tunnel and Bingdaban, as well as felt socks, leather vests, and other labor protection and cold supplies, so as to ensure that the officers and men could eat well and dress warmly in the environment of high mountain oxygen and harsh climate.
The snow clouds in the Tianshan Mountains often do not open, and the thousands of peaks and mountains are covered with snow, and the construction work in the depths of the Tianshan Mountains is carried out, and the officers and men of road construction drink iced snow water all the year round, eat compressed dried vegetables and light egg powder, and live a very hard life. It takes three or four days to go back and forth from the construction site to nearby towns to buy vegetables, and only one-third of the vegetables can be eaten when a truckload of vegetables is pulled to the camp, which is extremely valuable.
Zeng Yuejin was the chief of the first company of the 122nd Regiment, responsible for the vegetables of the Baoguan wintering on the Bingdaban at an altitude of more than 3,000 meters. He controlled the temperature of the vegetable cellar at _5-7 °C by burning the fire wall, in order to let his comrades eat fresh vegetables, he had to pick up and clean the vegetable cellar every week, due to the heavy workload, he had to work overtime every time, I don't know how many nights, he spent time with vegetables despite the cold and dampness of the vegetable cellar. Because of his outstanding work, he was awarded the third-class meritorious service.
Although the officers and men who built the road lived in underground nests and tents, they were still neat and clean, showing the military spirit of the officers and men who loved life and the barracks.
It was with such simple tools that the officers and men who built the road built a heroic national defense highway with their blood and lives, and safeguarded the security of the country and the happiness of the people.
The story of the officers and soldiers who built the Duku Highway was filmed into a number of film and television works, which touched countless Chinese.
In 1981, the Central Broadcasting Art Troupe filmed the TV series "Deep in the Tianshan Mountains" with Yao Hu as the prototype.
In 1983, the People's Liberation Army Bayi Film Studio filmed the movie "Tianshan Xing" based on Yao Hucheng and Li Shanguo.
In 1990, the TV Drama Center of the General Political Department of the People's Liberation Army filmed the TV series "The Moon is Full Tonight" based on Chen Xiaoping.
In 2011, the People's Liberation Army Bayi Film Studio made the movie "Guardian of the Tianshan Mountains" based on Chen Jungui.
Duku Highway has won many awards from design to road construction.
The road is a monument that lies down, and the monument is the road that is erected. The heroic and fearless meritorious deeds of the officers and men of road construction are etched in the hearts of the people of all nationalities. The road is a song of praise, and the song is the way forward. Listen to the simple and shocking touching deeds of road construction heroes, and pay tribute to every road guardian who is brave and silently dedicated. Duku Highway is a road that gathers emotions, and it is also a road that gathers spirits.
There are thousands of roads in the world, only Tianshan Road, haunted by dreams, once enthusiastic youth to defend the country, and now there are no regrets in the twilight of ambition. Recalling the eventful years of the past, look at the magnificent and unique library of the present. The feelings are stirring, and they are overflowing with words and dedicated to the second hometown where they once fought. Many veterans who participated in the construction of the Duku Highway were very excited when they learned the news of the construction of the Duku Highway Memorial Hall, they have donated the items used in the memorial hall, old photos, and donated calligraphy works, and there are many veterans who re-walked the Duku Highway, and paid tribute to the sacrificed comrades-in-arms in the Jorma Martyrs Cemetery, Tianshan, and the Duku Highway is their lifelong concern.
The west wind hunts, the wheels are rolling, from the Dushanzi District of Karamay in the north, to the Duku Highway in the south of Aksu Kuqa City, from the 1964 response to Chairman Mao's instructions to "invigorate the Tianshan Mountains" to build the war-ready highway to 1983, after nearly 20 years, the blood and dedication, the road out of the Tianshan Mountains, tens of thousands of road construction officers and soldiers with their hard work and even their lives to build a total length of 562.75 kilometers of national defense road, hero road. The Duku Highway runs through the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, decorates the magnificent rivers and mountains, is a tragic epic cast by tens of thousands of road construction officers and soldiers, is an unprecedented great feat in the history of China's highway construction, and has erected a monument in the history of China's highway construction.
With the opening of the Duku Highway, Xinjiang has formed a highway network with the Duku Highway as the axis, crisscrossing and extending in all directions, and the distance of more than 1,000 kilometers in northern and southern Xinjiang has been shortened by nearly half. It is of great significance to consolidate national defense, maintain stability in Xinjiang, promote transportation and prosperity in northern and southern Xinjiang, and benefit the people of all ethnic groups. With the development and change of the times, Duku Highway is known as "the most beautiful highway in China" with its unique charm.
Duku Highway stretches across the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, bringing together the Gobi, snow peaks, glaciers, lakes, forests, grasslands, canyons, integrating the humanistic spirit, natural landscape, geological expo, ecological population, folk customs, history and culture, and is praised by China National Geographic as "the landscape avenue that looks at the backbone of the Tianshan Mountains" Duku Highway is a landmark landscape tourist highway and golden channel in the Tianshan Mountains, and is also a transportation link to promote economic development and strengthen national unity, showing the magnificent picture of the magnificent Tianshan Mountains to the world.
The history of road construction of Duku Highway is a history of struggle that is not afraid of difficulties and obstacles. The construction of the Duku Highway Museum at the starting point of the Duku Highway is the best memory of this period of history, and it is also the most sincere tribute to the officers and soldiers of the road construction!
Today, when we walk on this most beautiful highway and enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way, we cannot forget that tens of thousands of road construction officers and soldiers fought in the wind and rain on the ice and snow Tianshan Mountain, and we cannot forget the martyrs who sacrificed their lives to build the Tianshan Mountain, and it was they who built this most beautiful highway and the heroic highway with their flesh and blood! They are the backbone of the nation, the heroes of the nation! Their spirit will always stand in the northwest frontier of the motherland like the Tianshan Mountains, and their heroic songs will soar in the blue sky like the eagles of the Tianshan Mountains, which makes people admire!
Zhuangzai, Xinjiang Duku Highway! Beautiful, Xinjiang Duku Highway!
July 4, 2024
Source: Veteran's Original House
Braided hair: Iron Sword