Zhang Luxin smiled elegantly, his heart becoming warmer: "For twenty years, the Qinghai-Tibet Rail took three steps forward and three steps back, however, several generations of permafrost scholars persevered from beginning to end on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, despite many struggles, and they were already out of supplies, however, they had had many gains in the fields of permafrost, and permafrost physics and mechanics, and in permafrost engineering, where they obtained world-class results. For example, from the beginning of the 1960s, the Northwest Research Office established an observation station at 4,800 meters above sea level at Fenghuoshan Mountain, year after year, day after day, observation continued without interruption for thirty years, and over twelve million pieces of data were collected: if the Qinghai-Tibet Railway were to be commenced, there would be a lot of scientific resources available for the 550-kilometer section over permafrost."
A ray of light shone in front of Sun Yongfu's eyes, and he flourished the pen in his hand: "Wait a second, Luxin, can you please explain in detail to me what the matter with permafrost is."
With those words, the department head hit the nerve of Zhang Luxin's professional excitement. He condensed the several enormous works of his life into a few simple sentences: "To understand and be able to make policy decisions about the permafrost of the plateau along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, it is necessary to pay attention to three conditions. The first is the distribution of permafrost, as there are three types; islands, large sheets, and some have melted spots. Another condition relates to the ground temperature of the permafrost, as there are four different warm and cold types. The warmest type is exceptionally unstable, the warm type which is unstable, the cool type which is fundamentally stable and the cool type which is stable. The third point that is necessary to note is the ice composition of the permafrost, as some contain relatively small amounts of ice, and other types are comprised primarily of ice. If you know these, you understand permafrost, and as far as foundations and prerequisites go for the construction of the foundation of the railway into Tibet, that's all there is to it."
"Understood!" Sun Yongfu softened his lower jaw, and his vision suddenly became sharp, "however, Professor Zhang, I have a question which I hope you can answer!"
"You're far too polite!" Zhang Luxin was deeply touched by Sun Yongfu's courteous treatment.
"According to my understanding, permafrost is a world-famous puzzle." It appeared that Sun Yongfu had also prepared, "there are several large countries with permafrost in the world, such as Russia, the U.S., and Canada, where they have worked very hard to solve this problem. I would like to know, does China, which has only been established for several decades, stand at the same level as these advanced countries?"
"I would say that Chinese permafrost research started later than that of large countries such as the U.S. and Russia, however, we definitely haven't fallen behind, and that's definitely not just us being arrogant." Zhang Luxin evidently had China's permafrost scholars in mind, "before the implementation of the reform and opening-up policies, we were almost led by Russia, and we never once escaped the shadow of the former Soviet Union. However, after the 1980s, we suddenly developed strength, partaking in much original research, and relying on the treasure chest of the world's largest permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, it can be said, without holding anything back, that Chinese permafrost research is not inferior to a global advanced standard. From the established permafrost railways of the world we can see, such as from the Siberian Railway, which was been in operation for a hundred years, with a defect rate of 38%, and the second Siberian Railway which was established in the 1970s and has a defect rate of 27.5%, and the Qinghai-Tibet Railway's first period between Xining and Golmud had a defect rate of 31.7%, there is not much difference."
"If we construct the second period of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway between Golmud and Lhasa, could the rail defect rate fall below 10%?" Sun Yongfu was a railway construction expert, and he understood railway construction targets like the back of his hand. "Which possible methods are there to resolve the problem of the permafrost sections?"
"I think it's possible!" Zhang Luxin answered, with victory within his grasp, "we've developed ventilation ducts, a slate-bed foundation system, and conducted sunshade stimulation experiments indoors, with excellent results. The experiments have provided important theoretical analysis, numerical modeling and engineering construction parameters about the permafrost sections. However, to solve the simple matter of decreasing temperature, thermal rods are the most effective. The next most effective techniques were ventilation and slate-bed ventilation pipes in the foundation, crushed stone protective banks, and shade sheds."
"Thermal rod technology?" Sun Yongfu did not have a good grasp on this technique, and concerned, he asked, "is there an example of where it has succeeded?"
"There are instances, such as the engineering of the Alaskan petroleum pipeline in the U.S., which used 11,200 thermal rods, and has been safely in operation for twenty years; in the permafrost regions of the U.S., Russia and Canada, this technology is used extensively on electrical transmission towers, houses, highways and railways."
"Oh, it's that good?"
Zhang Luxin nodded his head, and introduced the principles of thermal rod technology in great detail.
Time, like the monsoons that blow through the Kunlun Mountains, was gone with the wind. Zhang Luxin had only just started speaking, but his report on the problem of permafrost took two hours, and was concluded only at 1.30pm.
