On the Xiping Railway construction site—crisscrossed by ravines, shrouded in windblown sand, with numerous scattered work points along an extended line, complex technical challenges, and extremely difficult demolition and relocation—a slender young man with brisk steps, high spirits, and a constant smile can be seen rushing about the front line of construction every day, providing quality technical services to accelerate the pace of construction. He is Zhang Jianke, 37 years old this year, Deputy Chief Engineer and Engineering Department Director of the Xiping Railway Engineering Command Headquarters.

He is diligent and dedicated, staying close to the site to provide technical services. When he first arrived at the Xiping project, in order to quickly familiarize himself with the site conditions, he went to the construction site for inspections during the day, recording various construction conditions and technical parameters on site, and worked overtime at night reviewing drawings and consulting materials. He used nearly 20 pages to record the various engineering structure types and resource distribution along the entire line. Starting with standardizing internal documentation, he took measures to improve the level of technical management, making technical preparations for the subsequent upsurge in construction.

Section 3 of the Xiping Railway under his management has a total length of 149.13 kilometers, with numerous small structures, diverse types of special-structure bridges with complex technology, and tunnels with complex and variable geology and high safety risks. The project construction truly deserves the description of "many work points, an extended line, and great difficulty." As Engineering Department Director, he is fully responsible for the overall technical management of the entire line, and has voluntarily taken charge of the entire line's control surveying, track construction, and reconstruction of existing railway stations and yards, leading by example as a technical model.

As the construction upsurge of the third and fourth quarters of 2010 got underway, the workload of on-site technical guidance and inspection verification grew increasingly large. In order not to affect on-site construction and to ensure the smooth progress of key processes at each work point, the Engineering Department, in light of the construction characteristics of each work point along the entire line, compiled a table of key process quality control points, formulated relevant technical control management systems, and required that key processes must undergo inspection and acceptance according to procedures before the next step of work could proceed. After inspection requests were submitted, the Engineering Department of the Bureau Command Headquarters took the lead in organizing joint inspections by multiple departments.

Under his leadership, key process control and acceptance inspections were carried out. Along the nearly 150-kilometer line, he often had just finished at the eastern end when work at the western end was already pressing close behind. To save time, he often ate on the road and rushed to the next work point immediately after meals; when he truly could not finish, he worked overtime at night conducting inspections and on-site duty.

Every effort brings its reward. At present, technically complex projects such as 138 spans of special-structure bridges and 18 tunnels along the entire line have been completed one after another, and all key processes have been carried out smoothly as required.

He is good at solving difficult problems and takes the lead in tackling technical challenges. Constrained by terrain, the Xiping Railway basically follows the alignment of the Fuyin Expressway, National Highway 312, and the Jing River. The entire line has many bridges and long tunnels, with multiple crossings over expressways, national highways, and main river channels, which means there are many difficult and key projects within the managed section. There are more than 70 bridges of various sizes along the entire line, including 17 special-structure bridges and 138 spans of large-span cast-in-place and segmental assembled box girders. There are two 80-meter-span steel-concrete composite truss girders and one 56-meter-span tied-arch bridge adjacent to an existing railway line, creating enormous pressure regarding traffic impact and safety protection and making construction extremely difficult.

In particular, the 80-meter-span steel-concrete composite truss girder is being applied for the first time in China, with a span that ranks first in Asia and even the world. Drawing on his professional expertise, Zhang Jianke proposed adopting a falsework construction scheme, and after scheme comparison, the falsework scheme was ultimately adopted. This proposal greatly reduced construction safety risks and lessened the impact on expressway traffic. Compared with other schemes, the falsework scheme greatly reduced the input of steel, machinery, and equipment, saved costs, and at the same time accelerated construction progress, with remarkable economic benefits.

During the preparation of the support scheme for the 64-meter segmental assembled box girder, because the stress at the support points of segmental assembly was too concentrated, full-scaffold supports could not satisfy the local loads at the support points. When everyone was at a loss, he proposed whether the problem of local load overrun could be solved by adding vertical poles at the support points. Through repeated calculations with on-site technical personnel, they summarized the construction technology of steel pipe composite column full-scaffold supports, enabling the smooth implementation of the 64-meter segmental girder support assembly and ensuring the construction progress of the key project.

He is hardworking and dedicated. When he first arrived at the Xiping construction site, his father fell ill and was hospitalized. He could not return home to care for his parents and could only send greetings over the phone. Only after the scheme preparation, revision, and final review were completed at the construction site did he hurriedly set out on the journey home. While caring for his hospitalized father, whenever he heard that there was something to deal with at the construction site, he would always voluntarily return to the unit, and after finishing the work, rush back to the hospital to care for his father.

He is devoted to learning, dares to meet challenges, and has achieved remarkable results. From the Yunnan Guangda Railway project to the Shaanxi Jiangfa Highway project, the Chongqing Yuhe Expressway project, the Changshu Xitai First-Class Highway project, the Tongjiu Railway project, and the Zhengzhou-Xi'an Passenger Dedicated Line project, Zhang Jianke has actively carried out scientific and technological research and achieved fruitful results. He has been awarded the Railway Ministry's Locomotive Medal, and honors such as Advanced Producer and Science and Technology Model Worker of China Railway First Group, and Advanced Individual of the Zhengzhou-Xi'an Company and the Shanghai Railway Bureau's Shanghai-Hangzhou Company.

Since 2006, he has summarized and published multiple technical papers and scientific and technological achievements, and has applied for an invention patent and construction method for falsework construction of segmental assembled girders on passenger dedicated lines. He published the paper "Construction Technology of the Track Panel Method for Zublin Ballastless Track" in the journal "China Science and Technology Overview"; published more than 10 papers including "Construction Technology of the Cantilever Casting Method for Continuous Girders" in the journal "Science and Technology Communications"; and his paper "Falsework Construction Technology for 80-Meter Steel-Concrete Composite Truss Girders," submitted to the national core journal "Railway Standard Design," has passed editorial review and is about to be published. In four consecutive excellent paper evaluations held by the Group Company and the Railway Society, he won two second prizes and two third prizes. The research results on the application of the 64-meter-span segmental assembly construction technology for the Xiping Railway were awarded the first prize for scientific and technological progress by the Gansu Provincial Department of Construction, and he received an individual honor certificate.