At the beginning of the "15th Five-Year Plan", the country focused on laying out and systematically promoting the construction of "six networks". Water networks, new power grids, computing power networks, new generation communication networks, urban underground pipe networks, and logistics networks, from drawings to reality, are intertwined and perform their respective functions, accumulating momentum for high-quality development and supporting the daily lives of thousands of families.
Where does the stagnant water in urban areas go?
The small pipe network is connected to the people's livelihood, and the construction of underground infrastructure is related to the long-term development of the city and the vital interests of the people. Since this year, many places have focused on the management of low-lying waterlogging-prone points as the focus of underground pipe network renovation, and strive to make up for the shortcomings in drainage and waterlogging prevention. In the flood season that has just passed, the transformation of some cities has withstood the test.
In the flood season that just passed, the number of heavy rainfalls Zhengzhou encountered was basically the same as the same period last year, but the obvious accumulation of water caused by heavy rainfalls dropped from 10 times last year to 1 time this year. In the Erqi District Shuigong Community Kindergarten, the reporter saw that the waterproof sandbags that were used every year were locked in the storage room next to the playground this year and were not used.
Gao Lei, the person in charge of the Shuigong Community Kindergarten in Erqi District, Zhengzhou City: When it rained heavily before, the water level reached this level. But this year the rainwater was quickly drained away.
Due to its low terrain, old pipe network, and slow drainage, Zhengzhou's central urban area is prone to road flooding during heavy rainfall. It is a key area at risk of urban flooding. For example, a heavy rainstorm on August 7 last year made it difficult to walk under an overpass in this area.
CCTV reporter Jin Xiaoxi: Through virtual technology, we can restore what it looked like when there was heavy rain and serious water accumulation here. The deepest water can reach 70 centimeters.
Why has there been such a big change in one year? It turns out that this year, Zhengzhou has made the renovation of underground pipe networks in Heyi and Longhai Road Jingguang Road, two areas with the most serious water accumulation problems over the years, as the city's key rectification projects. One of the main tasks is to turn the original small pipes into large pipes, or even square pipe culverts, to increase drainage capacity.
Hu Bibo, person in charge of the Qinling Road pipe network renovation project in Erqi District, Zhengzhou City: Now our new underground rainwater pipe culvert is as wide as a trench. After the transformation, the drainage capacity can reach 50 mm per hour in response to extreme weather.
During the renovation of the underground pipe network this year, Zhengzhou also raised the drainage construction standards of the pipe network in response to the increase in extreme weather.
At present, the first phase of the renovation of the Heyi area has been basically completed. The main road network upgrade and the treatment of a water blocking point have been completed. The flow of many surrounding roads into the river and lake outlet has more than tripled.
The renovation of the Jingguang Road area of Longhai Road, another low-lying and flood-prone area, has been basically completed, and the drainage capacity has been significantly improved.
Zheng Shuai, Drainage Management Office of Zhengzhou Urban Management Bureau: We have carried out renovations at the points where the problems are most obvious, where construction has been around for a long time, and where the masses have had strong reactions. Since the beginning of this year, the pipe network's repair and loss report rate has dropped significantly. Currently, there are 11 reports of damage and repair, which is 70% lower than last year.
Wang Dongxia, a citizen of Zhengzhou: I used to feel very worried about traveling. But now we see such great changes and there is no more water accumulation. We feel very happy.
42 livelihood projects and 42 “prescriptions” for transformation
We see that accelerating the transformation of waterlogging points is the top priority in the transformation of Zhengzhou’s underground pipe network this year. But can measures such as replacing small pipes with large ones completely solve the problems left over from so many years of history in the old city? What else did they do to make the transformation so obvious?
On the surface, the transformation of these two areas in Zhengzhou is from small management to large management. However, after visiting several renovation sites, the reporter found that their renovation ideas have also changed this year.
Li Jichun, a member of the Party Leadership Group of the Zhengzhou Urban and Rural Development Bureau: The innovation of our renovation this year is that we changed the single-point pipe network renovation model of "treating the head when it hurts, and the foot when it hurts", and carried out regional overall management to upgrade the rainwater pipe network of 19 roads.
Yang Hao, a professor-level senior engineer at the Zhengzhou Municipal Engineering Survey and Design Institute: The previous transformation was aimed at a certain water accumulation point. This time it was extended to the entire area, and the main network in the area and the bayonet entering the river were connected to carry out systematic transformation.
The reporter noticed that in order to achieve this kind of systematic rectification that can cover the whole area and open up all the checkpoints, each renovation project is a one-point solution. At the treatment site of the water blocking point in the open ditch of the spinning mill, the focus of the transformation here is to completely widen the blocking point so that the rainwater from the upstream can run all the way and directly enter the river.
CCTV reporter Jin Xiaoxi: Under my feet is a drainage channel that was just renovated this year. Just this renovation has nearly quadrupled the drainage capacity of several nearby streets. This year, there are 42 such upgrades in the nearby area.
There are 42 transformation points, each with its own "prescription" for transformation.
After sorting through the project list, the reporter found that 23 of them focused on upgrading the underground pipe network, while the other projects were to accurately fill in the supporting shortcomings. Some "diseases" are in the pipelines, so the diameter of the pipes is expanded and the round pipes are replaced with square culverts; some "diseases" are in the pumping stations and backflow in the rivers, so the pumping stations are expanded and gates are installed to prevent backflow.
At the reconstruction site of Xiong'er River, the drainage project was embedded in the urban green space, the shortcomings in drainage were completed underground, and a riverside park was built simultaneously above ground to achieve the integrated construction of flood prevention safety and leisure space.
Li Jichun, a member of the Party Leadership Group of Zhengzhou Urban and Rural Development Bureau: The project reconstructs hidden culverts, upgrades the pipe network, builds a new drainage pumping station, improves drainage capacity, and plans a linear park to take into account drainage safety and people’s leisure needs.
42 renovation projects, 42 different "prescriptions" were issued. And these are just the first steps in the transformation of Zhengzhou’s underground pipe network this year.
Yang Hao, professor-level senior engineer at Zhengzhou Municipal Engineering Survey and Design Institute: In the next step, we will further enhance the city’s drainage capacity through three gradients. The first is the strong discharge capacity, the second is the water storage capacity, and the third is the intelligent operation capability of joint debugging and joint discharge. We have added some flow monitoring equipment to the Two Districts and One River project this time.
In order to move from "invisible" to "well managed", Zhengzhou is currently accelerating the installation of flow and water level sensing equipment in the pipe network, improving the flood control and drainage monitoring and early warning system, promoting joint debugging and intelligent dispatching of the pipe network, and improving the level of drainage operation and maintenance management through digital means.
At the Zhengzhou Digital City Operation Center, this system, which integrates tens of thousands of video signals and more than 400 point monitoring information, has begun to "go on duty." It can predict the risk of urban flooding in the next three hours, so that citizens no longer have to "wad through water" when traveling on rainy days.
Zheng Shuai, Drainage Management Office of Zhengzhou Urban Management Bureau: In the past, the response speed might take several hours, but now we can receive information and prompts in two or three minutes.
Six networks build foundation and benefit people’s livelihood
Zhengzhou's efforts to solve the problem of water accumulation in old urban areas have demonstrated the effectiveness of the transformation of the urban underground pipe network on people's livelihood.
Since the beginning of this year, not only Zhengzhou, but also various regions have continued to deepen the construction of urban "six-network" infrastructure. By filling in shortcomings in urban operation and optimizing the ecological environment of human settlements, they are upgrading all-round infrastructure to lay a solid foundation for urban development and benefit thousands of people.
In Xinghe County, Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia, patients can now seek medical treatment from Beijing experts at the town health center, and they can be connected in a few seconds. Relying on cloud computing power, the locally built medical community information system connects the county and rural three-level medical networks into one, and can also implement AI to screen more than 30 chronic disease risks in three minutes.
Shang Caiyun, a resident of Xinghe County, Ulanqab City: In the past, you usually took the train to Beijing for medical treatment, but now you can basically get it done at your doorstep.
At the southern foot of the Qinling Mountains, in Longfeng Village, Ningshan County, Shaanxi Province, farmers in the mountains who have been "hidden" in signal blind spots for a long time now have full mobile phones. Not long ago, the local communication network was upgraded and reconstructed, and remote villages and groups with intermittent calls have completely bid farewell to blind spots.
Yang Lin, a villager in Longfeng Village, Ningshan County: After adding signal towers and optimizing lines and equipment, the network is now stable and has wide coverage. We can start live broadcasts at home and sell hometown specialties to friends across the country through the live broadcast platform.
One network can solve a type of people's livelihood problems, and network-network collaboration can better activate governance efficiency.
In Wuhan, Hubei, through the intelligent integration of multiple networks, it is now possible to combine weather forecasts and model calculations for dynamic scheduling to achieve joint control of waterlogging, pollution control and other facilities.
Gao Fang, Operations Technology Director of Wuhan Huangxiao River Comprehensive Water Environment Management Project: We connect sewage treatment plants, pumping stations and other facilities into a thinkable network. The operation of this network relies on the coordination of four networks, including pipe networks, communication networks, computing power networks, and power grids to achieve dynamic perception, accurate prediction, and efficient dispatch of the entire watershed.
Through efficient dispatch, Wuhan can not only achieve precise control of overflow pollution in the Huangxiao River, but also produce high-standard recycled water that can be replenished into the river and reconstruct the ecosystem.
Chen Jun, person in charge of Wuhan Huangxiao River Water Environment Comprehensive Management Project: Another feature is the simultaneous treatment of pollution and waterlogging. There is not only domestic sewage in cities, but also overflow pollution caused by combined sewage and waterlogging. Domestic sewage is treated on sunny days, and pollution caused by combined sewage and waterlogging is mainly treated on rainy days. The water quality of the Huangxiao River is guaranteed in both sunny and rainy days.
At present, this "pollution and waterlogging control" model can add 450,000 cubic meters of overflow pollution control and storage capacity to the Huangxiao River Basin, which is equivalent to the water volume of nearly 300 standard swimming pools. In the first nine months of this year, 89% of the days Wuhan’s Huangxiao River met Class III and above water quality standards, a record high.
Wuhan citizen Ding Mingjun: The water used to be so smelly that the door couldn’t be opened. After treatment, the water became clear and a park was built here. Many residents came here and it was much better than before.
