Shanghai pays tribute to past industrial miracle
The three metal cylinders off the country's first hydraulic press with a maximal force of over 10,000 tons are unveiled opposite People's Square on Wednesday.
Three metal cylinders, the tallest standing about 1 meter, were unveiled opposite People's Square in downtown Shanghai on Wednesday. They bear memories of the city's miraculous industrial breakthroughs from decades back.
The cylinders are parts of the first-ever hydraulic press with a maximal force of over 10,000 tons made in China.
A hydraulic press is a machine press that uses hydraulic cylinders to generate a compressive force and is widely applied in manufacturing. Hydraulic presses with large maximal forces, which are used to produce larger components of industrial products, are a symbol of a country's strong industrial capacity.
The hydraulic press, some parts of which are now on display, was manufactured at the renowned Jiangnan Shipyard around 1960, when Chinese engineers had no experience or external knowledge about making such gigantic machines.
Huang Jiahua, 90, was on the team of the project which was launched in 1959. He was present at a ceremony that unveiled the cylinders on Wednesday.
"It was a reprise of the classic question of the egg and the chicken, because it was believed that you have to have a hydraulic press of this scale to produce the same," he said. "Some had doubts if we could deliver the mission impossible, but we were confident that nothing is impossible when there's a will."
Huang Jiahua, 90, says he's proud of the machine which was hand created by him and his colleagues.
In manufacturing, the giant machine, which stands about 20 meters high, Huang's team applied the electroslag welding method to weld numerous smaller parts, a rather unusual method for making this kind of machine at the time. The machine was finally ready in 1962.
China's first hydraulic press with a maximal force of over 10,000 tons.
To this day, the machine is still working at Shanghai Heavy Machinery Plant Co. The three cylinders on display were replaced parts when the machine was revamped back in 2009.
The cylinders can be seen outside the Shanghai Workers' Cultural Palace on 120 Xizang Road M.
