Nghe An people 'overcome the sun and rain' on the 500kV project
In the scorching heat, in the dry wind stirring up white dust, in thick layers of clothes and hats, drenched in sweat, the workers constructing the 500kV power line in Nghe An province are working hard to keep up with the project's progress.
In the scorching heat, in the dry wind stirring up white dust, in thick layers of clothes and hats, drenched in sweat, the workers constructing the 500kV power line in Nghe An province are struggling to keep up with the project's progress.
SINGLE GOAL
Only by witnessing it with your own eyes can you fully understand the difficulties and hardships of the team of engineers and workers.500kV line circuit 3must overcome when constructing a project. Some people get burned by holding on to hot steel bars, some stagger when carrying blocks of materials up the hill, some have eyes stinging from sweat... Although exhausted, no one stops until the job is done, no one leaves their assigned position.
To reach the construction site of pile 355 in Nghi Kieu commune (Nghi Loc), the workers have to travel about 500m of hilly road. The distance is not too far but steep, narrow, sandy. If traveling by motorbike, it must be manual, in first gear and only one person can go at a time. On rainy days, this road is slippery, workers can only walk from the foot of the hill up. And this is not the most dangerous construction.
Among the workers working here, there are 6 women. They are subcontractors, taking on concrete work. Wiping away sweat, worker Phan Thi Thuy shared: “I have been working here for more than a month. Every day I wake up at 5am, it takes about 1 hour to go from my house in Yen Thanh to here. In the evening, I go back to Yen Thanh, it takes another hour. If I come early, I get home at 8pm. Some days, I have to pour concrete for the foundation, I stay until 2am to finish, then go home and rest a bit and come back early the next morning to work.”
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In the conversation with Ms. Thuy and her colleagues, I heard about the hardships that only those involved could understand. Those were the days when the work did not go smoothly, when the water ran out while mixing… the concrete could not be poured as planned; The times of climbing up and down the foundation deep underground, stuffy and hot; The rainy days, the already steep path up the mountain became even more slippery, struggling to carry things, falling up and down…
Not having to travel far like Ms. Thuy, worker Ho Van Thinh lives right in hamlet 3, Nghi Kieu commune, and has been involved with the 500kV circuit 3 project since the first days of construction. The hardships of a worker's life are deeply imprinted in the corners of his eyes and mouth, making this worker look much older than his age of over 50. "The work here is very hard, if you don't work hard, you can't do anything. I was assigned tasks such as pumping water, stringing electric wires, loading cement onto machines, moving materials from one location to another... During these hot days, the hardships are multiplied," worker Ho Van Thinh confided. As soon as he finished speaking, Mr. Thinh hurried back to work to transport things down to his colleagues who were working on pile foundations 10m deep from the ground.
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Also in Nghi Kieu commune, on a near-completed electric pole, workers are reinforcing the steel with giant screws. The intense heat makes the metal bars hot and the workers’ faces red.
Sharing the hardships of the 500kV line workers and engineers, many delegations from functional agencies, departments and branches came to give gifts of encouragement. Although they were very grateful and happy, these workers could not receive them properly. They could only chat briefly and then return to work immediately. Time and progress did not wait for them. They only had one choice: to complete the work as best and as quickly as possible.
NGHE AN "SPIDER-MAN" TEAM
At the VT438 pole construction site, the members of the electrical installation team are mainly from Nghe An, although the working unit is based in Ho Chi Minh City. With their capacity, they have built and connected electricity to many famous projects. This time, although the project is right in their hometown, they can only connect with their families via phone.
The leader of this construction team is Mr. Le Dinh Hao - Captain of the Power Construction Team 3 - PC1 Southern Joint Stock Company (from Quynh Tam commune, Quynh Luu district). Under him are nearly 100 engineers and workers, of which 80% are from Nghe An. Explaining this, Mr. Hao said: "As a Nghe An native, I always feel confident and secure with the character of my hometown people. That is why I tend to recruit fellow countrymen. Most of these people were born and raised in hardship, know how to be hard-working, diligent, united, and share with each other. When we reconnect, we will be a strong collective."
The strong collective that Mr. Hao mentioned has completed the highest lines in Southeast Asia, the line across the sea to Phu Quoc Island, important lines in the socio-economic development of Vietnam... The strong collective has typical members who are known as "spider men" and have been awarded many times such as Deputy Team Leader Dinh Trong Tinh, Team Leader Hoang Van Minh, worker Tran Quoc Huy... Up to this point, their strong collective is also the only unit in Vietnam to be trained abroad in the skill of pulling 4 wires at the same time, instead of 2 wires like other units.
“In our work, dropping and stretching the rope is the hardest. In the hot weather, we hang for hours on the cable, at dizzying heights, and must be extremely focused and calm to ensure there are no mistakes. Just one minute of negligence will lead to damage to the work and endanger our lives. To ensure safety and progress, we maintain a military lifestyle, working from 5am to 6:30pm, only hanging around the camp and construction site. That is why, even though we work right in our hometown, we cannot go home,” Hao shared.
The image of his teammates and brothers “hanging” on electric wires in the blue sky is also the image that moves Mr. Hao the most every time he sees it. From those emotions, the Team Leader has a very good way to motivate and encourage everyone. Besides ensuring their lives and building a reward system, he also uses flycam and camera to record dangerous working moments and everyone's dedication. After that, he collects and publishes them into short clips with enthusiastic, cheerful music, conveying the spirit of excitement and enthusiasm on the construction site. After more than 20 years of working in the profession, the valuable images he has collected have become a valuable archive of the unit and the industry.
Understand the Prime Minister's directive spirit and the significance of500kV lineThese days, we are trying to "overcome the sun and rain", working "3 shifts, 4 teams", working "24/24 hours close to the construction site", to urgently complete the project on schedule. There are days when we have to work around the clock, having lunch at 3 pm. The pressure and hardship are great, but after each morning meeting, every time we see the completed project, we feel excited. When we come home at night, we are together like a family, sharing stories about family and life, and all the fatigue seems to melt away", Mr. Hao confided.
