My heart is far away (3) - Qucun flood gate and Shitouzhuang spillway - Draft - Draft

On December 5th, it was a rare cycling weather. The warm winter sun shone on the earth and the temperature was acceptable. We met up with our riding friends and a group of four people went along the natural Wenyan Canal embankment, all the way to north.

? This ride has two purposes. One is to exercise and enjoy the beautiful scenery. More importantly, it is to take this opportunity to closely interpret the two flood control projects on the levee-"Shitou Zhuang Spillweir" and "Qucun Flood Release Gate", and tried to retrieve fragmented memories of childhood and relive the good times of childhood.

There is a smooth asphalt road on the embankment. The road is not wide but there are few vehicles. There is no conversation all the way. I can only hear the brisk tire noise of the wheels rubbing against the road. I am getting closer and closer to the destination. My heart It had already flown out of my chest, and my thoughts could not help but go back to more than forty years ago...

In July 1976, the Yellow River overflowed and burst, and my village quickly turned into a vast ocean. On the "water shelter" (The tall earth platform built in the village for waterproofing in those days) After staying for a few days, my uncle (then the leader of the Yellow River River Affairs Bureau, stationed at the Shitou Zhuang spillway) sent three engineers to drive a small motor boat to take me and My brother and uncle’s second sister took them out and “escaped” to the spillway...

“We’re here!” A call from my companion interrupted my memories. The first stop was the Shitou Zhuang spillway. The location On the east embankment of Shitou Zhuang Village, Menggang Town, Changyuan City, however, this place is no longer the impression in my memory!

——The small and neat yard with a small repair section is located on the east side of the embankment. The houses are painted in blue-based colorful patterns, which look lively and lively; the lower side and both sides of the embankment are the main body of the project. , the water culvert is buried under the deep soil layer. On the west side of the embankment is a wide diversion canal. The bottom and both sides are paved with cement. About 20 meters to the west, the water canal is divided into two branches. Heading towards the southwest county and northwest; standing on the embankment, there is a concrete sluice looming on the opposite side of the embankment. To the east, there should be a ditch leading to the Yellow River...

According to historical records, the Shitou Zhuang Spillweir was built In 1951 of the last century, it was the first flood detention project built on the main stream of the lower reaches of the Yellow River after the founding of the People's Republic of China. Its construction was a temporary measure to prevent abnormal floods before the reservoir in the middle reaches of the Yellow River was completed. From early May to August 20, after more than 3 months of hard work by more than 45,000 migrant workers and 2,500 cadres from Changyuan, Fengqiu, Qingfeng, Nanle, Puyang and other counties, the first Yellow River overflow since the founding of the People's Republic of China was The flood project was declared completed, and the serious flood control situation in the Yellow River was alleviated.

The stone-installed spillweir project is huge and involves a wide area. The ditch going east is the ditch leading from the gate of the Fenglou Village section of the Yellow River Dam. The Yellow River water passes through Songzhan and Shangzhan. , Yangzhan, Cuizhan and other villages pass through the embankment through the culvert under the natural Wenyan Canal, and flow into the vast plain on the west side of the embankment along the ditch... In short, this is a direct route to alleviate excessive flooding in the east of the embankment during the waterlogging season. A channel that drains flood water without mixing with the water of the natural Wenyan Canal...

Although I am revisiting my old place, this place has completely lost its appearance: maybe it was because I was young and ignorant and took shelter here. During those ignorant days, the impression of sluices and waterways was completely gone. Where had the row of houses we lived in gone? I remember that we often sat around a small table under the eaves to have dinner. The food at my aunt’s house was very good, including white flour steamed buns, and the worst ones were wrapped steamed buns. On the dining table were sliced ??salted eggs with skin and fried Chive box...

Just then, an old employee on duty in the maintenance section came over. He pointed to the open space with poplar trees on the west side of the embankment: "Here, it's right here. The old house has been demolished." It's been several years..." I stared blankly for a long time. The empty ground was covered with fallen leaves. Is this the paradise I lived in when I was a child? Which part is where my cousin buried the "battery light" in the rain? That faint beam of light illuminated the evening night. We watched with interest while sheltering from the rain in the far corridor, for fear that it would go out; also, my uncle is a very good-tempered person, and we were fooling around in his office. , my brother locked me in the room and let me cry. My uncle was not anxious and just looked at me with a smile; Hey! Is it at the head of this dam? Neatly beside the pile of stones, the young engineers and soldiers sat cross-legged and listened to my uncle's speech. A "naughty soldier" with a long and dark face made faces and threw stones at us... The water was so big at that time! I remember that as soon as the embankment went downhill, I jumped on the iron boat in Wenyan Canal. Now I think about it, how should my parents and young sister who are trapped in their hometown live with such a high water level? …

The most recent imprint that remains in my mind is when I returned from a visit to my aunt’s house in Puyang during the Spring Festival six years ago and passed the spillway from the embankment. I saw several dilapidated and abandoned rooms across the car window. The house burst into my eyes! It took me back to the past in an instant, I sighed for a long time, and my eyes were wet. Unfortunately, it only passed by for a moment. We didn't stop to pay our respects. Now, even this only thought is gone.

? Silently leaving a few sighs and endless melancholy, I got on the car at the urging of my companions and continued riding north. After passing the stone sculpture garden at the junction of Changyuan and Puyang, not far to the north is Qu. The village flood discharge gate has been opened. This huge project is located on the left side of the Yellow River embankment five miles south of Xiaoqu Village, Puyang County, Puyang City. The gate in front of me is similar to the mark of my childhood, only more majestic and neat.

In 1981, I don’t remember what season it was, my father hitched a donkey cart and sent my aunt, who was staying at our house, back to the gate of Qucun. I followed the cart as a “heel dog”. At that time, my uncle had been transferred from the Shitou Zhuang spillway to work at the Qucun Gate. The donkey cart traveled so slowly. It was more than sixty miles away, and it kept going for more than half a day. Along the way, I only vaguely remember that my father kept getting out of the car and walking, waving his whip and shouting at the little donkey to go faster; In the small canteen, we drank a bowl of soup noodles with a strong flavor, which contained very salty tofu cubes. We saw the shadow of the gate in the distance, and a green jeep drove up quickly. It turned out that the driver was sent by my uncle to pick us up. ...

? The Qucun gate in the 1980s was in tatters. Although it was almost invisible as it is now, the cranes on the upper floors were all exposed, showing yellowish-brown rust spots. ; The road bridge deck next to it may have been paved with steel plates at the time, and it was shaky when you walked on it. Especially when a car ran over it, the "rumbling" sound was like an earthquake. It is not like now that all the upper machines are closed and the lower gate hung by a steel wire rope has been painted with rust. It has turned into a pleasant light blue, especially the bridge deck, which is as smooth and thick as ordinary asphalt road... Standing on the bridge and looking down from a high position, on the east and west sides, the view is broad and unobstructed, including several sparkling fish ponds. There are several rows of poplar trees.

There is a flood control room at the south end of the gate. From the inscription next to it, we know that the gate was built in 1978 and is an open structure based on reinforced concrete cast-in-place piles. It has 56 holes at the end. The total length is 749 meters. It was known as the "No. 1 Gate in Asia" at the time. The existing gate was repaired and reinforced based on the original foundation in March 2017 and completed in December 2018. The hoist, gate and frame were replaced. Bridges, highway bridges and bridgeheads were demolished and rebuilt...the facilities were more technologically advanced and their performance was more scientific.

The inscription on the monument says: The operation principle of this gate is that when a flood with a flow rate of more than 22,000m/s occurs at the Huayuankou Station of the Yellow River, after it has been adjusted and stored by Xiaolangdi, Sanmenxia, ??Luhun, Dongping Lake and other reservoirs, it is still unable to guarantee the flood flow. When the flow rate at the mountain station is less than 10,000m/s, the Yellow River Flood Control Bureau will formulate a flood diversion plan, submit it to the National Flood Control Bureau for approval, and then the National Council will issue an order before the flood diversion can be activated... It can be seen from this that the status of the Qucun Flood Discharge Gate is one of the most important. It is of such high importance and level; it is a precautionary measure for the country and a flood control plan for a century or even hundreds of years!

In fact, the Qucun Flood Release Gate was a water conservancy project built after the Shitou Zhuang Spill Weir was abolished. At that time, the Shitou Zhuang Spill Weir had four channels and embankments blocking water in front of the weir, so it was the right time to blast and divert the flood when the water was strong. It is difficult to control, and it is possible to miss the peak of the flood or insufficient flood diversion, which will cause unexpected losses. Therefore, the superiors decided to build a flood diversion gate in Puyang Qu Village and abolish the Shitou Zhuang Spill Weir... It is worth mentioning that whether it is the Shitou Zhuang Spill Weir or the So far, the Qucun Flood Release Gate has not played its role, but we have no regrets at all: Who hopes for the day when the Yellow River is raging, floods are surging, and the embankments have to be blown up to open the gates, leaving their homes to protect everyone? But this also reflects the broad sentiments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council that are far-sighted and caring about the common people.

I hope these two water conservancy projects will never be put into use and will only become a patriotic study base for children!

Time flies by like a fleeting moment. Forty years pass in a blink of an eye.

Facing the ancient ruins of the spillway and the magnificent Qucun flood gate, I couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion: the reality is real, right in front of me, tangible and visible; even though those days in my childhood are far away Although it is gone, it is precious and will always be etched in my heart; and why is the glorious history of our country’s socialist construction not like this? From the Shitou Zhuang spillway in Changyuan City to the flood discharge gate in Puyang Qu Village, more than half a century of vicissitudes have witnessed the tremendous changes in our great motherland. We should keep this precious historical process in mind!

2020.12.12