b'3.11 Hanjiang Heavy Industrysproject cargo important toChinas high-speed railOver the past decade, the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) moved into a leading position on the global stage by their construction of the high-speed rail (HSR) network. Their success is attributed in part to the Hanjiang Heavy Industry, Co., Ltd. (HHI) of the China Railway Construction Company. HHI manufactures, transports and operates 450-ton girder-hoisting machines applied to the hoisting, displacement and loading of the whole span of precast By Robert L. Wallack, AJOT This article was originally published on concrete box girders for the construction of the passenger HSR lines. July 22, 2019 in issue #684Over 15,000 miles of HSRChinas HSR network opened in 2008 for the Beijing Olympics with the Beijing to Tianjin line and has since expanded to 15,534 miles (25,000 kilometers) by the end of 2018. This $300 billion project reaches 30 of 33 provinces with trains rushing passengers at speeds between 124 to 217 miles per hour. Ticket prices are from $271 for business class to $67 for [image 3.11-1] second class seats and much lower prices for stations between the 8 main HSR lines. Four are 450 ton beam lifting machine manufactured by HHI ready for shipment to Putian city,north-south and 4 are east to west. Fujiang for HSR constructionTravel times are reduced by hours from the older network and service levels are much high-er. Beijing to Shanghai on the HSR is 5 hours from 12 hours (two hours by air) on the older network. China Railway Company service atten-dants are professionally uniformed and walk the aisles with food carts as well as sweep the aisles and maintain clean, modern restrooms. The pas-senger seats recline and are equipped with elec-trical outlets with folding seat trays. The travel experience is vastly different than the old train network of clanking cars and unsanitary condi-tions. Situated near the Han River, an important de-fense fortification against the invading Mongols in the 13th century, and a tributary of the Yangtze River in Xiangyang, Hubei province is Hanjiang HeavyIndustry,animportantmanufacturerto the largest HSR system in the world. Xiangyang has a long history as a central transport location for trade between the north and the south of Chi-64 THE UNCONTAINED www.theuncontained.com'