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Do you know how the bird’s nest is welded? 265 top welders, the welding task that took only two years to complete!

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The National Stadium, a landmark building in Beijing and a symbol of the successful hosting of the 2008 Summer Olympics, is also vividly known as the “Bird’s Nest”. This magnificent and majestic giant steel structure has caused people to wonder countless times: what kind of skilled craftsmen can erect such a huge steel structure stadium? Customized high quality metal bearing

The bird’s nest miniature model on display at the Beijing Olympic Museum provides the answer. This model was made by the main creator in order to conduct research on the internal environment of the stadium and made it at a scale of 1:50. By observing this model, you can clearly see the complex steel frame structure inside the “Bird’s Nest”, and solve people’s concerns about the internal structure of the “Bird’s Nest”. doubts.

The “Bird’s Nest” was the largest super-large steel structure stadium project in the world with the largest amount of steel and the most complex structure at that time. To turn this extremely creative design into reality, there were neither forming standards nor experience to draw on. The project builders put a lot of effort into this, not only showing the wisdom and spirit of the “big country craftsman”, but also reflecting the goal and determination to host the Olympic Games with integrity, making this century project a brilliant appearance and shining globally.

The most technically difficult part of the “Bird’s Nest” is the construction of the steel structure. Among them, the span with the largest span and the most difficult is the north-south direction. The gravitational force generated by the steel structure with a long axis of 330 meters and a weight of more than 40,000 tons on the column base and column head in the north-south direction is very large. To this end, chief engineer Li Jiulin tried to use a super-strong thick steel plate to solve the bearing problem of the structure.

However, at that time, the qualified steel products were not produced in China. In order to ensure the construction on schedule, under the coordination of various parties and the strong support of domestic steel production enterprises, the birth of a new type of steel in my country, Q460E-Z35, was finally directly catalyzed. Customized high quality metal bearing

The problem of steel is solved, and the key to the next step is the welding problem.
If you have a chance to look up close, you can see the welder’s name on the edge of every weld in the bird’s nest.

At that time, there were more than 1,000 outstanding welders from all over the country, including the urban construction group. After training, the best were selected, and more than 450 were selected. Only with the training certificate can they enter the Bird’s Nest construction site.

The location of the nest welding is complicated. In the past, we could adjust the position of the component to make the welder more comfortable. For example, if the component should be welded upside down, if the component is turned over, the person will be more comfortable. However, the components of the bird’s nest are particularly large and complex, and workers can only adjust their posture and weld them in a narrow space for a long time.

Most of the time for bird’s nest welding is in summer, and the steel plate needs to be heated to above 150 ℃. In order to ensure the welding quality, in summer, when we all wear short-sleeved shirts, the welders have to wear thick clothes and endure high temperature baking. And you think, face up welding, there will be welding slag falling off. Customized high quality metal bearing

The welding process is not allowed to be interrupted, otherwise problems such as cracks and slag inclusions may occur. The longest welding process reaches 17 hours, of course, we can replace people. But in any case, this is a challenge to the welder’s skill, physical strength, and sense of responsibility.

During peak welding, we have thousands of welders on site. They, plus 7,000 concrete workers. The bird’s nest is really built with their hands.

A welder’s name is engraved on the edge of each weld in the bird’s nest, and in this way, hundreds of ordinary welders have left their tiny traces in this world-renowned Olympic project – perhaps The public has no chance to see it, but it will never be forgotten.

As the city of double Olympics, the love between the organizers and partners of the Olympic Games began in 2008 and has continued to this day. This includes not only the official partners of the Beijing Olympics and the Beijing Winter Olympics, but also the global partners of the Olympics. These partners provide wisdom for Beijing to host the Olympic Games. Customized high quality metal bearing


In the Beijing Winter Olympics publicity group, Hou Qianying, a Chinese employee from a global partner company of the Olympic Games, recounted the past of Chinese workers using electric welding systems to serve the construction of the Bird’s Nest.

Of the 12 competition venues used in the Beijing Winter Olympics, 5 are existing venues. The Bird’s Nest is the most important and iconic venue for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. It witnessed the lighting of the 2008 Beijing Olympic torch and will continue to be the venue for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics.

“Every time I tell this story, I feel very proud. The Bird’s Nest not only condenses yesterday’s classics, today’s legends, and tomorrow’s dreams, but also engraves the passion and glory of welding builders forever.” Hou Qianying said. Customized high quality metal bearing

Beijing News: Then tell us about Bird’s Nest welding?

Hou Qianying: That was in 2005. The Bird’s Nest is fully under construction. The high-altitude and large-span saddle-shaped design is very unique. There is no column inside. The fully welded heavy-duty steel structure requires high welding quality and is very difficult. Not to mention there is no precedent in China. It is also extremely rare in the history of welding.

The entire steel is 42,000 tons, which are all welded, and the total length of the weld is 320,000 meters. Welding requires a 100% success rate, so welders must be verified and selected.

At that time, although our welding equipment was already in place, there were too few qualified welders. When some people heard that the job was too difficult, they dared not weld, and were immediately scared away. Although some people dare to weld, their skills are not enough.

It doesn’t matter, as long as you have the backbone of our working class to win glory for the country, have this Olympic feeling, and don’t know how to weld, I will teach you! China Engineering Construction Welding Association specially hired Wang Yusong, a welding expert from our company and winner of the National May 1st Labor Medal, to conduct comprehensive training for the 265 selected welders and teach them hands-on. Customized high quality metal bearing

Beijing News: In the welding operation, which links were the most difficult, and how did you overcome them later?

Hou Qianying: In order to ensure the strong welding of the bird’s nest, we conducted 126 welding procedure qualification tests before the official construction. One of the test weldments can be continuously welded for up to 38 hours without stopping in the middle.

At that time, the room temperature was 35°C, and the weldment had to be preheated to 150 to 200°C. The welders were so sweaty that they could wring out water when they took off their clothes. There are also difficulties from welding positions, especially overhead welding. Overhead welding means that the welding torch is upward, the welding position is above the welder’s head, the welding seam is not easy to form, and the molten welding wire and steel plate molten iron are particularly easy to fall and scald the welder.

Teacher Wang said: “Sometimes even if the hot welding flower falls into the neck, I dare not stop, otherwise there will be quality problems such as cracks and slag inclusions.”

Don’t they hurt when molten iron drips on them? Every time I hear this, I can’t help but ask Mr. Wang. But in fact, I also know that of course they will also hurt, but at that time there was only the welding seam in front of them, and those scalding marks left on their bodies have become their Olympic medals one by one. Customized high quality metal bearing

Beijing News: You just mentioned that Mr. Wang trained and guided a domestic welding iron army. What problems did this team of workers solve in the welding construction of the Bird’s Nest?

Hou Qianying: Mr. Wang carefully guided and trained a welding iron army, which provided a guarantee for the high-quality completion of bird’s nest steel welding.

The operation of welding is difficult, and the defects of unqualified flaw detection are prone to occur.

That is to say, although it is welded on the outside, there is no fusion inside. If this kind of defect appears even a little, it will be fatal in the special steel structure of the bird’s nest, and there is even a possibility of the whole collapse, and the consequences are disastrous!

Our process experts do not know how many meetings and how many solutions have been formulated, and finally, the technical difficulties have been broken through.

More than 100 welders climbed to the height of 70 meters and started welding at the same time

Beijing News: You mentioned the most unforgettable scene of the bird’s nest closing, tell us about this day? Customized high quality metal bearing

Hou Qianying: On August 25, 2006, the bird’s nest was closed. In the middle of the night, at an altitude of 70 meters, more than 100 welders and more than 100 welding machines were mobilized to fight for two years and more than 700 days and nights in order to welcome this moment.

At that time, our company’s service support staff did all the preparations in advance and carried out a thorough inspection and maintenance of all welding equipment.

Everyone climbed up the cloud ladder. At first, they were very excited, but when they climbed to a height of forty or fifty meters, the cloud ladder swayed violently. In an instant, they felt that they had become trapeze and dared not look down. All I could hear was my own heartbeat. The wind was strong at night, and the more you went up the ladder, the more trembling it became, and you had to stop a few steps.

At zero o’clock, the commander-in-chief of Bird’s Nest Folding announced, “Following starts!” More than 100 welders started welding at the same time, and dazzling sparks burst out from more than 100 welding joints.

At this time, the arcs of the bird’s nest shone in the night sky, and the dots of welding flowers connected the three huge steel structures together. A complete main structure of the stadium is presented to the world. Customized high quality metal bearing

Tears flowed on the faces of all the masters at the scene, and we were victorious. Cheers resounded over the bird’s nest. We use Chinese technology and our own strength to weld the pride of a nation. Customized high quality metal bearing。

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