From the "tallest building in Beijing" China World Trade Center Phase III to the "tallest building in North China" Tianjin Jin Tower, and then to the "tallest building in China" Shenzhen Ping An Finance Center, these skyscrapers are constantly pushing the city's skyline higher. "Super high-rise buildings are the product of a country or a region's economic development to a certain extent." In the eyes of Zhou Yuqi, the chief engineer of these architectural works, their symbolic significance goes far beyond the changes of urban landmarks; they also highlight the "China Height" seeking breakthroughs and the "China Speed" pursuing excellence.
Eighteen years ago, Zhou Yuqi was still a grassroots technician on the project; today, he is a geotechnical expert in the construction industry and the chief engineer of China Construction First Building (Group) Corporation Limited. The construction projects he presided over have won the National Quality Engineering Award, the China Construction Engineering Luban Prize, the China Civil Engineering Zhan Tianyou Award, and the First Prize of National Excellent Project Management Achievements in Construction Engineering. He himself was selected by China State Construction as the "Most Beautiful Frontline Engineer" by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. Challenging the deepest foundation pit and holding up skyscrapers, Zhou Yuqi interprets the quality of a "Great Country Craftsman" with consistent excellence.
If you only do things within your ability, you will never progress
Zhou Yuqi, who has just passed the age of 40, is already a well-known geotechnical expert in the construction industry, and the super high-rise buildings he has presided over are well-known "star" projects in the industry. Looking back 18 years ago, after graduating from China University of Mining and Technology, Zhou Yuqi, who originally wanted to engage in geological research, came to China Construction First Building by chance and has since formed an indissoluble bond with the construction industry.
Since most of the company's colleagues come from construction engineering or civil engineering backgrounds, at first Zhou Yuqi felt that his major in rock engineering seemed a bit "out of place." "With the economic development of our country, the housing construction business is also in a stage of vigorous rise. In the process of rapid growth in the construction industry, I gradually realized that the knowledge I have mastered can be put to use in the enterprise, and even have great potential in the construction industry." After finding his position in the enterprise, Zhou Yuqi smoothly passed the adaptation period of industry transition and established clear goals.
To this day, Zhou Yuqi still clearly remembers the first three years of work, eating and living with workers, pulling cement pipes together. "On the construction site, we lived in simple warehouses. Even in July and August, it was hard to fall asleep because of the coolness of the night. Sometimes two crickets would suddenly emerge from the bed. However, I myself also came from the countryside, and relatively poor accommodation and food were not enough to defeat me."
Zhou Yuqi can not only use his professional knowledge to manage the construction site in an orderly manner, but also, with good physical fitness, tie rebar, pull cement pipes, and drive piles together with migrant worker brothers to ensure construction progress. Soon, Zhou Yuqi began to serve as a technical management personnel for the project, and the projects he undertook became increasingly challenging.
Zhou Yuqi admitted frankly that when he first became the chief engineer of a large project, he was not as "calm" as he is now. "Small projects have fewer works and fewer personnel, so everything is controllable, and the quality of completion is also known. But as a manager of a large project, one needs very rich experience and keen foresight to form accurate predictions about the future. Fortunately, I am young, passionate, and energetic, and can use my diligence to make up for my lack of experience."
"If a person always does things within his ability, he will never progress." Eighteen years is Zhou Yuqi's growth and effort from a grassroots technician to the chief engineer of a core subsidiary of a Fortune Global 500 company. It is also his consistent love and dedication to the construction industry, and his persistence and courage to face difficulties and challenge himself.
Conquering the "deepest foundation pit in China" and speaking for "China Quality"
In December 2014, the China's tallest building—the Shenzhen Ping An Finance Center project—was successfully topped out. Zhou Yuqi went up to the roof and took a photo. Facing the camera, he finally smiled with relief. He had said more than once: "Only when the building is topped out can it prove that the foundation pit is safe!" Behind holding up the skyscraper is Zhou Yuqi's focus on excellence, courage to break through and innovate, and sense of responsibility in planning when conquering the "deepest foundation pit in China." The foundation pit of Ping An Finance Center is only 6 meters away from Shenzhen's major traffic artery Line 1, and less than 2 meters from the nearest station, where the daily flow of people is over one million. According to national regulations, subway deformation caused by foundation pit construction must not exceed 4 millimeters. The deepest part of the Ping An Center foundation pit reaches 60 meters. Because it is located in a busy downtown area, the construction area is narrow, and it can only be excavated at one time. The challenges Zhou Yuqi faced can be imagined.
"Who told you to smash the floor of the station hall! Can you bear the responsibility if the subway cannot operate normally?" When a penalty notice was placed in front of Zhou Yuqi, his answer was confident: "Smashing the floor tiles is to grout the underground rock and soil to prevent large deformation due to lateral pressure, so that the subway can be safer!"
Although he was already a registered geotechnical engineer, Zhou Yuqi did not rely on his "seniority" to be arrogant. Instead, he carefully prepared several construction plans to discuss with Shenzhen Metro experts. In the end, Zhou Yuqi introduced the "sleeve valve pipe grouting" construction technology into the housing construction field for the first time, convincing the expert demonstration group. According to monitoring, the deformation of Shenzhen Metro Line 1 was less than 2 millimeters. In 2014, Zhou Yuqi's summarized "sleeve valve pipe grouting construction" passed the Beijing municipal construction method review.
During the construction process, the difficulties Zhou Yuqi overcame through innovative technology were not limited to the subway. Ping An Finance Center is located in the central area of Shenzhen, and almost all urban pipelines are concentrated under the foundation pit, which is related to the daily life of tens of thousands of nearby people. By slowing down the lifting speed of the grouting pipe, Zhou Yuqi perfectly resolved the contradiction between reinforcement strength and pipeline safety.
To drive 8 giant pillars with a diameter of 8 meters and a compressive bearing capacity of more than 100,000 tons into the ground 60 meters deep, it was necessary to break through the hardest slightly weathered granite underground in Shenzhen. Zhou Yuqi brought in the German Bauer rotary drilling rig used in the Qinghai-Tibet Railway construction to tightly connect the engineering piles with the earth's crust.
When the public uses terms like "leaning building" and "brittle building" to mock the construction industry where housing quality accidents occur frequently, Zhou Yuqi has made the most vivid endorsement for "China Quality" with high-rise buildings rising one after another.
Adhering to the "craftsmanship spirit" and making every building a masterpiece
At this year's Two Sessions, the "craftsmanship spirit" that first appeared in the "Government Work Report" aroused strong social attention. In Zhou Yuqi's mind, the "craftsmanship spirit" is the spirit of pursuing excellence and meticulous carving. "In the current stage of rapid economic development, some enterprises blindly pursue quick and short-term results, resulting in buildings not meeting the quality requirements they should have. Therefore, I think the 'craftsmanship spirit' is actually about letting us overcome impetuous emotions and improve product quality through this kind of meticulous carving."
When Zhou Yuqi successfully pumped C100 concrete to a height of 1,000 meters, perfectly solving a problem that has plagued the world's construction industry, human construction of kilometer-high buildings is no longer a dream. However, compared with blindly pursuing building height, Zhou Yuqi values building quality more. "To create 'China Quality' in the construction industry, the most important thing is to lay a solid foundation for the project and do a good job in the underground foundation, so that it can be a conscientious project."
Zhou Yuqi jokingly calls himself an "underground worker," but in the eyes of peers, he is a hero who "goes up to the sky and down to the earth." High-rise buildings rise from foundation pits. To ensure that the building is as stable as Mount Tai, Zhou Yuqi is willing to go deep underground time and again for exploration, research, and testing. "There is an old saying: 'If the foundation is not solid, the earth will shake and the mountains will move.' These underground projects have no turning back once started, and there is no room for regret. Therefore, to ensure China Quality, we must first start from the foundation and strive for excellence."
Although the construction industry is not as eye-catching as various emerging industries, Zhou Yuqi believes that there is still more room for improvement in this industry. "I think the future construction industry should advocate green buildings and green construction, and continuously improve construction technology productivity through advanced means."
Improving technological productivity is the key to transformation and upgrading and changing the development mode. Zhou Yuqi said that in the past, through the introduction of foreign technology, equipment, and construction methods, China's construction industry reached a relatively high level. "But now China has become the world's second-largest economy. At this time, if we still rely on imports to improve labor productivity, it won't work. Therefore, I believe that the future construction industry should focus on technological innovation and technological efficiency, give play to the 'craftsmanship spirit,' and make every construction product a fine building."