Late autumn, the golden season. Harvesting the spring planting, and also harvesting hope.

The same is true of the Yubei Area Infrastructure and Comprehensive Improvement Project (hereinafter referred to as the "Yubei Elevated Project"). At the beginning of the year, this place was unremarkable; now it has taken on a completely new look. On the 11.8-kilometer construction site, columns rise one after another, and beam slabs are laid in orderly fashion on the column cap beams, running from south to north, like a giant dragon displaying its majestic posture.

Busy, busy, spurring the horse on without dismounting; progress is new every day, especially on these late autumn nights. The steel box girder erection work at each at-grade intersection has successively reached its milestones. On the slightly chilly evenings, welding workers put in extra hours, with the roar of cranes in their ears and welding guns in their hands; the flying sparks are like the brightest stars in the night sky as they focus on joining the steel girders together, every weld bead embodying their superb skill and hard-earned sweat. Deep into the night, the clang of metal and the "zzz" of welding interweave, playing a stirring symphony of construction.

"The end of the year is near; if we don't push hard now, when will we? A 60-day sprint, to give ourselves and the 800,000 people of Shangyu a satisfactory answer." said the relevant person in charge of the Shangyu District Transportation Group.

Project site: the bugle sounds, spurring people on

From the first ray of sunlight in the morning, the Yubei Elevated construction site is busy and orderly, and the workers' quick, powerful steps seem to keep writing two vivid words—autumn harvest.

No one knows when, but the water trucks quietly get to work; beneath the dripping-wet Yubei Elevated, environmental protection work, like a vanguard, is the first to set off the "alarm clock."

Huge cranes stretch out their long booms, precisely hoisting heavy precast beam slabs to designated positions. "Lower! A little lower!" At the site of Section 2, undertaken by Zhejiang Jiaogong Jinzhu Company, workers precisely direct the beam slab hoisting work, meticulous in every detail. As the beam slabs settle precisely into place, the workers' brows gradually relax, and the tense atmosphere slowly dissipates. That is the testimony of the builders' enthusiasm and effort.

Beneath the elevated line, construction vehicles shuttle ceaselessly. Outside the elevated line, excavators swing their huge buckets, continuously digging earth to open up space for the extension of the elevated bridge. Trucks, fully loaded with building materials, rush back and forth across the site, like a group of diligent ants, contributing their own strength to building this magnificent project.

At the construction site of Section 1, undertaken by China Construction Eighth Engineering Division, workers wearing hard hats and work uniforms come and go; some are carrying building materials, some are operating machinery and equipment, and some are conducting surveys and inspections. Everyone performs their own duties, working tensely and busily, and their eyes reveal determination and focus—that is the persistent pursuit of project quality and progress.

Standing at a higher vantage point, Yubei's natural scenery and lively construction scene set each other off beautifully. Under blue skies and white clouds, green waters and mulberry fields surround this land full of hope. The beautiful scenery remains, early winter is approaching, and what the workers face are even longer nights.

On October 24, the steel box girder hoisting at the Baihong Line at-grade intersection began; on October 31, the steel box girder at the Sancheng Avenue at-grade intersection also entered construction. No one knows when, but the symphony of steel box girder construction at the at-grade intersections began playing over the Yubei Elevated.

The workers remember: as night falls and the city's clamor subsides, the steel box girder hoisting site at the at-grade intersection is brightly lit. Because steel box girder construction requires closing some intersections for a relatively long time, in order to minimize the impact on road traffic, the construction unit chose to work at night. The crane's long boom stands out under the lights, machine warning lights flash, and more than a dozen traffic police officers and auxiliary officers hold the four corners—they are the guardians of safety; the workers are busily at work, walkie-talkies issuing commands amid the noise, and with every lift and shift of the beam slabs, their eyes are focused with concentration and tension. In one night, 8 beams are completed, and one at-grade intersection takes 3 consecutive nights. Whenever dawn comes again, the flash of surprise and delight in the eyes of people passing by this place again seems to be the best reward for the builders.

Project sections: finding every way, running at full speed

As of the end of October, Section 2, undertaken by Zhejiang Jiaogong Jinzhu Company, has completed 45% of its construction progress, leading the entire line in all data. Among these, the mainline bridge pile foundations are 96.1% complete, the columns 66.8% complete, and the prestressed cap beams 67.4% complete. It is expected that by the end of this year, the mainline elevated substructure will be basically completed, and the beam slabs are planned to complete 120 spans.

Behind this leading position is the silent dedication and hard work of all employees of Section 2. Project leader Ma Baoxiang treats the project as his home and the construction site as his calling; although he is a native of Shangyu and his home is close at hand, he goes home only twice a month. During the steel box girder construction period at the at-grade intersections, management personnel and workers together made full use of the nighttime hours when traffic is light, fighting continuously, and with persistence and dedication they earned the normal operation of the city and convenient travel for citizens during the day.

In August and September, environmental inspections tightened further with stricter requirements, and many engineering projects came to a halt. But once work stops, production progress is bound to lag. In order to win both the "environmental protection battle" and the "progress battle," Section 2 put itself under greater pressure—within a short time, the entire project added 6 water trucks, 4 street sweepers and fog cannon trucks, and 2 enclosure washing vehicles operating simultaneously. At the construction site, 150,000 square meters of dust-proof green netting were quickly laid down in a gap-filling manner.

If progress is insufficient, make up for it with manpower. Under the guidance of the Shangyu Transportation Group, Section 2 continuously improved production efficiency. On the basis of the original one bridge-erecting machine, they added 4 cranes, turning one work point into 3 work points operating simultaneously. They also transferred a substructure construction crew from another project and continuously adjusted the construction work plan. In the steel rebar processing and precast component workshops, they focused on details through machine substitution and automation, continuously raising the level of refined management of the project.

Similarly, at the construction site of Section 1, undertaken by China Construction Eighth Engineering Division, construction is in full swing; the No. 0 block of the cantilever cast-in-place beam spanning National Highway 329 has just been completed, and the next process is being pushed forward intensively; on July 25 this year, the first T-beam was erected; on September 27, the first steel box girder was hoisted and erected; and on October 31, steel box girder construction at the Sancheng Avenue at-grade intersection was in full swing.

Unlike Section 2, the area where Section 1 is located is more complex, with many at-grade intersections, endless streams of vehicles, and constant pedestrian traffic, creating great safety pressure. As project secretary and chief engineer, Zou Chunhua spends every day out on the road, and he is certain to be present at the nodes of "dangerous and major" works.

Many at-grade intersections mean many conflicts, and construction easily causes misunderstanding among residents, so complaints are naturally a bit more frequent. But under the leadership of the owner unit, the Shangyu District Transportation Group, Section 1 implemented a Party building alliance composed of multiple departments, with multi-party joint Party building, using Party building work to drive central work.

At the end of June this year, Section 1 joined with Songsia Subdistrict and its 8 subordinate villages to carry out joint Party building and heart-to-heart interaction. This summer, Zhangli Village and Sanhua Village were hit by torrential rain, which submerged large areas of farmland, and the project department urgently provided support with 2 high-power water pumps; upon learning that a side road in Sanhua Village had not been hardened, the project also helped build a 30-meter-long cement road. "Only by putting ourselves in others' shoes and considering more for the residents can we earn their understanding and support" is becoming the magic weapon by which Section 1 overcomes difficulties.

Project owner: digital-intelligent navigation, efficient management

Behind quality and progress is the Shangyu District Transportation Group's relentless pursuit of a "Quality Yubei." In transportation engineering construction, the group pays more attention to digital supervision of engineering construction in order to improve management efficiency and enhance project quality and progress.

Over the past few years, the Shangyu District Transportation Group's engineering digital management platform has become more complete, and its achievements have been fully reflected in the Yubei Elevated Project.

For example, the group developed an enterprise-level cockpit, realizing the aggregation and linked management of multi-project data. By integrating data from different projects, the owner can grasp in real time key information such as the progress, quality, and safety status of each engineering project, forming an efficient communication and linkage mechanism between the enterprise and the projects. This innovation has greatly enhanced the coordination and transparency of Yubei Elevated management.

In addition, the group successfully realized the linkage function between process inspection requests and test reports, and introduced an early warning mechanism. If a test report is missed or forgotten in uploading, the system will automatically issue an early warning notification to help on-site and management personnel follow up in time and avoid potential quality problems. The implementation of this function has effectively improved the management level of construction quality.

Key links such as process inspection requests, quality inspection materials, and engineering measurement have achieved comprehensive online management. Today, all relevant data of the Yubei Elevated Project can be filled in online through the platform, printed offline, and approved and measured online. This not only reduces the repetitive work of filling in offline forms but also greatly improves work efficiency and data accuracy. In addition, the electronic storage and management of data provide a solid foundation for the later review and acceptance of the project.

In the Yubei Elevated Project, the management of performance personnel has also been fully digitized. Daily work such as information management, attendance management, and leave management of performance personnel is all managed through the information platform, ensuring real-time data updates and transparent management. This function further improves the efficiency and standardization of personnel management while reducing the cumbersome steps of offline records, ensuring that management personnel can grasp the work situation and attendance status of performance personnel at any time. This also provides strong support for the efficient advancement of the project and the guarantee of performance.

"It is expected that by the end of this year, the entire line will complete 90% of the mainline elevated substructure construction and 66.7% of beam slab installation, and will fully carry out bridge deck system and ground road construction, ensuring the project opens to traffic as early as possible," said the relevant person in charge of the Shangyu District Transportation Group.