Chapter 2596
"Thank you very much for taking your precious time to come here today to witness the birth of this great project!" Shi Diwen's opening remarks were concise and clear. He paused at this point, raised his finger and pointed at the erected stone behind him. banner.
This banner is three feet wide and more than two feet long, with yellow characters on a red background. The content above is "The Groundbreaking Ceremony of the Hangzhou-Ningbo Railway Project." Even ordinary people who were blocked from the viewing area by security personnel and could only watch from a distance could still read the words on the banner clearly.
"I know that many people here may not understand the significance of this project. After all, this is the first railway built by our country in the Donghai Region. Before this, everyone's understanding of railways should be very limited. So I I would like to briefly introduce the role of the Hangzhou-Ningbo Railway.”
Shi Diwen's deep and powerful voice echoed over the venue: "As we all know, although Hangzhou's geographical location is adjacent to the East China Sea, it lacks the natural conditions to build a large port. And the closest natural port to Hangzhou is in Ningbo. I have been in the Han Dynasty since the Second World War. We have invested a lot of resources to build Dinghai Port in Zhoushan, Ningbo ten years ago. How to efficiently connect the shipping handling capacity of Zhoushan Port with the prosperous market in Hangzhou is the goal we have been striving for. ”
"What is the biggest difficulty in solving this problem? It is obviously transportation! The waterway distance from Dinghai Port to the mouth of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal outside Hangzhou is five hundred miles. The land route from Ningbo to Hangzhou is slightly closer, but it is also three hundred miles away by official road. No matter Whether it is land transportation or water transportation, the journey between the two places will take at least three days. If you want to transport bulk cargo, the time required will only be longer.”
"Of course we cannot shorten the distance between Hangzhou and Ningbo, but we have another solution, which is to provide a faster mode of transportation. The Hangzhou-Ningbo Railway starts from the intersection of Fenghua River and Yuyao River in Ningbo Prefecture in the east, and ends in the west The journey to where we are now is more than 300 miles, and the estimated travel time is within five hours. Everyone, what does this mean? This means that the travel time between the two places can be easily reached in the morning and evening, and the travel time is shorter than in the past. At least three times faster!”
"But speed is only one aspect. With this railway, the cost of transporting goods between the two places will be greatly reduced. Each train can carry hundreds of thousands of kilograms of goods. You can imagine how much is needed. How many carriages and ships can transport so much goods at one time? The trade industry between the two places will definitely benefit greatly, and the future prospects are promising!”
"But such a century-old plan is naturally very difficult to realize. The amount of the project is no less than building an artificial canal between the two places. It is not only expensive, but also takes several years. Everyone who is here to participate in the groundbreaking ceremony today, or Officials from various departments involved in this project, or patriots who are concerned about this matter, I hope that people from all walks of life can cooperate sincerely and work together to achieve our common goal as soon as possible! ”
Shi Diwen's speech clearly pointed out the significant role of the Hangzhou-Nanjing Railway in regional development, but the levels he mentioned were relatively superficial and did not talk about the strategic significance of this railway at a higher level. For example, it will improve Haihanguo's railway engineering capabilities, serve as a demonstration for the widespread rollout of railway projects in the mainland in the future, and play an important role in promoting the future development of the Gyeonggi region, etc.
Obviously he knows very well what kind of incentives should be given to the people here today. Only simple and easy-to-understand benefits can make these people understand the significance of the Hangzhou-Nanjing Railway and gain their recognition and support.
Shi Diwen also did not mention the many technical difficulties in this project, such as the cross-river railway bridge to be built over the Yuyao River and Cao'e River. For Haihan's current engineering technology level, it is considered Due to the problem of exceeding the outline, the Railway Bureau under the Ministry of Transport has not yet completed the final bridge construction design plan. This may also become the biggest difficulty in the entire Hangzhou-Ningbo railway project.
Fortunately, these two rivers are easier to deal with than the Qiantang River. The construction project is longer and the investment is larger, so the problem should be solved. Shi Diwen adheres to the principle of "talking more about hopes and talking less about difficulties", so that more funds can be raised from the private sector more quickly. The people present obviously liked this very much. After Shi Diwen's speech, the audience responded with warm applause.
Although the enthusiasm of businessmen to invest and participate may not reach the same level, with groups like Yangzhou salt merchants coming out to support, it will definitely play a certain leading role. Therefore, in the subsequent groundbreaking ceremony, Dai Yingda became the only private person who could come forward to shovel the soil with Shi Diwen and other senior officials.
Dai Yingda was obviously very excited to enjoy this honor. Although the ceremony was just a symbolic formality, he just erected the stone tablet with the words "Hangzhou Railway Station" in the pit and filled it with some soil to fix it, but he was sweating profusely. He looked like he was planning to hold the position of foreman at the construction site.
Dai Yingda was so active, of course, in order to show off in front of the officials at all levels present. In the future, the business scope of the family will increasingly involve other fields besides the salt industry, and there will be more and more yamen that need to be dealt with in all aspects. , it is definitely beneficial to leave a good impression on relevant officials early.
After a simple groundbreaking ceremony, the engineering team that had been waiting for a long time entered the site without stopping. In fact, the first batch of 300 workers responsible for building the Hangzhou Railway Station had started construction half a month ago, and the site where the ceremony was held was leveled in advance by them.
The estimated construction period of Hangzhou Railway Station is one year. At the same time, construction of the railway section from Hangzhou to Shaoxing will also begin, with a total length of more than 60 miles. Construction will also start in Ningbo later this year, with the section from Ningbo to Yuyao being built first.
Tao Hongfang noticed that there were still several people at the scene who had been engrossed in writing and drawing. They seemed to be reporters sent by various newspapers to report on the matter. You will surely see large articles about this major project in major newspapers published next month.
The Donghai Region is very optimistic about the construction prospects of this project, but Tao Hongfang is thinking that the rails and other materials required for laying the railway, as well as the locomotives, wagons and other equipment required for operation, all need to be obtained from Hainan Island has traveled thousands of miles to transport it, and I don’t know how much maritime transport capacity it will consume to achieve the goal. With such a complicated construction process, can this railway be completed as smoothly as expected?
(End of chapter)