Shishiyang is located between Guangzhou and Dongguan. It is a drowning valley-shaped bay deep into the land in the South China Sea. Above the ocean, there are blue waves thousands of miles away. Beneath the ocean, a high-speed train whizzes by almost every 5 minutes.

The EMU exits from the Shiziyang Tunnel of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link

Compared with the lively scene of 100,000 to 200,000 passengers passing through the Shiziyang Tunnel of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong high-speed rail every day, the maintenance work in the middle of the night seems a bit lonely, like a performance without an audience. As a thank you gift for the passengers the next day.

Nightcrawler 70 meters under the sea

The Shiziyang Tunnel opened on December 26, 2011, with a total length of 10.8 kilometers, a maximum burial depth of about 70 meters, and a design speed of 250 kilometers per hour. Some experts hailed it as a landmark project in the extension of domestic tunnel construction from the era of crossing the river to the era of crossing the ocean.

For countless nights, the workers in the Shiziyang Tunnel guarding work area of the Shenzhen North High-speed Railway Bridge Workshop in the Guangzhou South High-speed Railway Construction Section of China Railway Guangzhou Bureau Group Co., Ltd., like night runners, have carried out all-round maintenance of the tunnel to escort the safety of passengers.

Entering the Spring Festival, as the frequency of trains increases, their maintenance tasks become more and more arduous. The foreman Wang Ye said that on New Year's Eve this year, they will still stay on duty in the work area to ensure the normal passage of trains and escort thousands of passengers to return home safely by guarding the tunnel.

Whenever thousands of households fall into a dream, Wang Ye will lead the workers into the deep tunnel to complete the maintenance work. Recalling the feeling of entering the tunnel for the first time, he said bluntly: "Being at the bottom of the sea, it is a little scary quiet." After staying here for 8 years, he gradually got used to it.

In order to achieve "no water leakage", the standards of various safety protection measures for the Shiziyang Tunnel crossing the seabed are very high. In the Jiangzhong pump room 5 kilometers away from the tunnel, it is the top priority of the inspection work. The maintenance personnel will carefully check the pumps, electric control cabinets, pipelines and walls every time to confirm that the water volume in the collection well does not exceed the critical value.

Because it is open to traffic during the day, the time left for maintenance is only 4 hours in the morning. During this period, the team had to complete the inspection and maintenance of 5 pump houses, 16 pumps and drainage pumps, as well as the inspection and maintenance of the vaults, linings, and drainage ditches in the tunnel. The work was very intensive.

The total length of the four drainage ditches is more than 40 kilometers. Wang Ye and his colleagues must regularly remove the silt there to ensure smooth water diversion. In the long tunnel, the shovel collided with the wall of the ditch and made a crisp "clanging" sound from time to time.

There are 24 fans distributed in the Shiziyang Tunnel. The huge blower makes a loud noise to ventilate the long tunnel and supply fresh air. Wang Ye and the others must carefully check the supporting equipment every time to ensure that the equipment is operating normally.

The bright moon was hanging high, and the work was coming to an end. Wang Ye and his party returned to the ground one after another. Soon, the sky turned white, and a new day's high-speed train was about to enter the tunnel.

Continue to guard the tunnel on New Year's Eve

"When I first came, I felt that this place was very remote, and I worked for 8 years without knowing it." Wang Ye's master has fought hard to the point of retirement. The 6 people who came with him at the beginning are now the only one left. "One couldn't hold on and went back..."

At present, the front-line maintenance teams in the guarding area of Shiziyang Tunnel are all post-90s, and working on the claustrophobic seabed does require a sense of faith. "Every time I come back from the night shift, I see the first train passing safely, and everyone sleeps very peacefully." Wang Ye said.

Wang Quan is a new post-00 employee this year. He is about to join the ranks of "tunnel guards". He looks both nervous and excited: "In the past, when crossing the Lion Ocean, I could only choose Humen Bridge and Nansha Bridge. It takes about 15 minutes to get from Dongguan to Guangzhou.”

Considering that the night shift is more difficult, the auntie who usually cooks for everyone will also think of ways to change the dishes and provide them with nutrition. "There are spare ribs and chicken, I think Auntie's craftsmanship is very good!" Wang Quan praised.

Above the tunnel, Shiziyang made waves; inside the tunnel, high-speed trains galloped past. Wang Ye said that the Chinese New Year would only be a few days away. Everyone was going to buy vegetables and make dumplings. To ensure the safe travel of Spring Festival travelers, and keep the New Year with Wanjia Lighting in your own way. Editor/He Yuting